


Just a Walk in the Park

by comingbackhometoyou, forehead



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Jurassic Park - Freeform, Jurassic Park AU, M/M, People are going to die, blood gore and dinosaurs, harry is weird and wears lace, it's a jp au what did you expect, lilo are best friends who dig up dinosaurs, niall is a chicken, there are various dinosaurs, zayn is a smexy raptor wrangler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-26
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-04-06 05:08:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 124,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4209105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comingbackhometoyou/pseuds/comingbackhometoyou, https://archiveofourown.org/users/forehead/pseuds/forehead
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's 2015, the first time dinosaurs walked the earth in over 65 million years. The multi-billion dollar company, Twist Corporations, is planning a summer opening for their world changing attraction, "Jurassic Park".</p><p>They take an interest in the history making duo of Dr. Louis Tomlinson, a stubborn paleontologist, and his partner, paleobotanist Dr. Liam Payne, giving them the chance of a lifetime to work for the new theme park. Louis is apprehensive, but Liam has a "gut feeling" that it will change their lives. He isn't wrong.</p><p>Featuring Niall as the top engineer to get the park up and running, Zayn as the raptor expert, and Harry as the grandson of one of the most influential men in the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! We're Mol and Haylop. This is our jurassic park au and we hope you enjoy. Come give us praise later.  
> Tumblr for the fic: jurassicparkau.tumblr.com  
> Mel: loudloudandloud.tumblr.com  
> Hayley: stanleylucas.timblr.com

It had only been an accident. The first one in a long while. It didn’t register at first, as they bustled about transporting the live cargo they had sitting in an 8 x 10 foot cage. It was one of the last pieces to be added to the attraction, and was supposed to be an easy job. But as soon as the screams kicked it, he knew something had gone wrong.  
  
It didn’t worry him at first, when the whole truck began rattling. He knew that there was a chance the girl would wake up during the drive. What he wasn’t aware of was the overlooking of the padlocks on the box, which he would realize later weren’t secured the way he directed the guards to.

It was all too quick, when it happened. One moment he was sitting in the passengers seat of the trailer, and the next, he was practically ripping the door off it’s hinges with his gun in his arms in an attempt to stop the chaos.

His heart rate sped up when he spotted the six-foot creature surrounded by the array of vehicles that had been following theirs. Sweat pooled in his jet black hair as he leveled his gun to the female.

He wouldn’t shoot to kill, no. Just to tranquilize her until they could get her back and secured, and to her paddock. She was far too important to Twist to just kill off.

The mammal-like creature growled, baring her many rows of razor sharp teeth. Her crawls sprang out in defense, and everyone held their frightened breaths.

Their guns were aimed on every inch of her body, but they held back, knowing what would happen if they damaged her.

He couldn’t wait any longer, because there was no telling what she could do. She was a wild animal, unknowing of where she was, and her instincts told her to attack.

He pulled the trigger, holding the air in his lungs when the dart full of the toxins lunged into her neck.

Her ear-piercing scream cut through the silence and rapid breaths. She bowed her head, screeching in defeat when her legs gave out from under her. Her chest gradually slowed to an even pace, and her eyes closed as she went under.

The dark man untied the red bandanna from his deck, dabbing the perspiration from his forehead, and set the tranquilizer down against the tire of the truck. He put the bandanna in his back pocket, and wordlessly stepped in front of the cage, scoffing at the carelessness from the transport team. There could have been a major accident due to such recklessness, and he was quite certain Twist would’ve had his head served on a silver platter with whatever food he and his kind ate.

Luckily, the cage was still intact. None of the locks were broken, just bent a little out of place, nothing he couldn’t handle.

He turned towards the motionless animal, shouting orders left and right to the other workers. “Alright, let’s get her up and moved before the sun comes out, gentlemen!”

The bed of the trailer was lowered to the ground, while half of the men went to works repairing the locks. The other half, now equipped with the bonds to gather her in and move her back to the containment, moved cautiously near her mouth and legs.

They were clever. And that’s why he loved raptors. Their beauty was endless and they moved with swift abilities, making them one of the most dangerous, but impressive animals to have ever existed. But in the next moment, he wanted nothing to do than to shoot her between the eyes.

Her chest stopped momentarily, startling the transport team. She couldn’t have just stopped breathing, she wasn’t shot, only tranquilized. The confused man that started the muzzle on her mouth stopped briefly, placing a hand by her ribs, the scales cold beneath his fingers.

Her eyes flung open.

She wasn’t asleep.

There wasn’t any time to react when the muzzle was flown back by the force of her head lifting up. Her tail swung to the side, hitting one man on his stomach, sending him to the ground. The one who failed to get the muzzle on couldn’t move his body out of the way fast enough, screaming bloody murder when the raptor pounced on him.

It was pandemonium after, when she sunk her teeth into his chest, ripping away the flesh and leaving him screaming as his blood flooded the ground where he lay.

“Put her down!” The guns were aimed, and the first bullet hit her shoulder.

She was strong, fighting with all her might to remain standing when a few more struck her. She went down on the sixth and seventh ones, the metal objects digging into her left kneecap and thigh.

The expert shot her up with another dose of the sedative, calling off the rest of the men. They still weren’t allowed to end her life. It wasn’t there call.

He dropped the tranquilizing gun with a heavy sigh, scrambling past the animal and to the lifeless worker who had a chunk of meat just ripped out of him. He couldn’t have been more than thirty, and now he lay there with his chest gaping open. God, how could they be so stupid? Twist was going to fire them all.

“Get..the animal.. into.. the cage..” He heaved breathlessly, standing up discouraged and trotting away from the body. He needed to get to his phone. They needed to call the big guy, and carry everything else out as quietly as possible. "Mayyaada..."

She tricked them. She pretended to be sedated, and when their backs were turned, she attacked. He knew they were one of the most intelligent animals in the world, but this was something he wasn’t prepared for. It was brilliant. He would be amazed if he didn’t have a dead worker on his hands.

“Hey,” One of the guards whispered close to him as he reached the truck. He wasn’t in the mood to chat. “Twist isn’t going to be happy. We’re going to have to face another lawsuit, Malik.”

“There’s nothing I can do about that,” He was stoic, titling his head back, pinching the bridge of his nose. He handed the phone to the guard, “Call Twist. Tell him there’s been an accident.”

 


	2. Chapter 1

November was never a particularly busy month for London’s Natural History Museum, the bitter chill of winter normally scaring off the museum goers. The heating never reached far enough, which left some exhibits as frigid as the stonewalls outside that encased the building. The beige painted halls were usually empty, except for the workers that loitered around waiting for someone to buy a ticket to the exhibits, or the security guards monitoring the priceless artifacts that lined the walls. The rooms were eerily quiet; the only noises being the muted beeping of the security sensors and the running buzz of the lights.

In comparison to its summer months, the museum hardly received any action or profits in the winter. During summer tourists would flock to the museum, filling up the halls as amazement engulfed their beings. They provided an endless stream of sounds. Children would go on about their favorite exhibits, tour guides detailing the history behind the million year old fossils, and donors proudly standing next to the plaques engraved with their names that showcased the contributions they’ve made over the years.

November was never a particularly busy month for London’s Natural History Museum, unless a brand new Tomlinson and Payne exhibit was being unveiled. And as Dr. Louis Tomlinson looked out from behind the curtain, he saw that attendance would be one of the highest they’ve ever had.

Despite it being one of the worst winters London has ever seen, a large crowd had still managed to arrive specifically to witness what was hailed, “The Greatest Achievement in Paleontological History.”

Louis gulped his wine loudly, letting the bitter alcohol slide down his throat, hoping it would somehow calm his nerves. He didn’t need his voice to be shaky when he addressed the colleagues and investors that had funded countless dollars to their excavation, who were all waiting behind the velvet curtain.

He set the drink down, taming his fringe and patting down the lapels on the only suit he owned. More used to his cargo pants and company t-shirt, the suit suddenly felt itchy, too constricting. He’d done this before, unveilings, just not in front of a crowd the size of his high school. And certainly not for the biggest, and probably last one of his short-lived career.

Wasn’t it just ironic that the greatest contribution he would make to paleontology history, that anyone would ever make, would also be his last?

When the team had first discovered the bones, they were on the brink of giving up. Louis was at the end of his rope, mere minutes away from calling off the entire excavation. That was until their paleobotanist, Dr. Liam Payne, had suggested to move more north of their location. Louis wasn’t someone who easily took directions from others, but he had been working with Liam since they were lab partners back in uni. If there was anyone’s judgement he was going to trust, it would be Liam’s.

If it hadn’t have been for Liam guiding them closer to the hills of Staffordshire, they would have never stumbled upon the ancient remnants of Meley (Louis was given the privilege to name her), the late Cretaceous Sauropod, from what they estimated was 86.3 million years old. She was a beauty, Louis thought. The way the sun caught on her darkened, dirt-ridden bones was just breath taking.

It had taken a total of 4 years for Meley to be unearthed and prepared for the exhibit. What had at first only seemed to be a skull and neck bones, turned out to be an almost complete set of the Sauropod skeleton. They dug until their fingers bled, uncovering every fossil sans a few missing bones of the neck, which by now were integrated with the rock. It was astonishing, that they were able to preserve 95% of the original skeleton of one of the largest creatures to roam the Earth. They even beat Sue, the record setting Tyrannosaurus Rex at a smaller, but still giant 80% completion. Louis was more than a little chuffed at the news, what can he say, he’s competitive.

Needless to say, when word had gotten out about the most complete dinosaur skeleton in history, Louis and his entire team were met with chaotic coverage from the press. They were flown out to London to receive recognition for the history they made, both Louis and Liam becoming household names. Liam for pushing them and leading them to the site where they found Meley, and Louis for leading the team and discovering the first bone.

Louis can remember the last day on site, how the sun had been glaring down on them as they decided whether to continue the excavation. Funds had been running low and it seemed as though they had dug up every last part of Meley she had to offer. He remembers the feeling of pride that swelled inside him, he’d changed a lot from who he was four years ago. Liam had shed a few tears, though he denies it every time Louis brings it up in interviews.

Which was a thing now apparently, the interviews. Those had never happened before. But when you and your partner are dubbed the, “World’s Greatest Paleontologists”, it did become a thing.

“Hey.” Came from behind Louis, pulling him out of his thoughts, causing him to jump back into Liam, of course.

“Shit.”

The impact caused Liam to spill the dark wine on his pristine, white shirt. Louis and Liam both gasped and looked up at each other. Liam stared incredulously down at Louis, his mouth gaping open in an ‘o’. Louis broke their gaze first and tried to contain the laugh that threatened to slip from his throat by covering his mouth with the back of his hand, while Liam continued to look at him like he just murdered his entire family.

Louis failed and threw his head back, letting out a cackle. He spotted the ends of Liam’s lips twitching as he tried but failed to keep his mortified expression. A second later and they’re both giggling into their palms like school children.

Just like that Louis felt any nerves he had left seep out, and were replaced with a natural calmness he only feels when he’s deep in the digging site.

“Tommo,” Liam said, trying to maintain a stern face, because even though Louis’ laugh was contagious, the fact of the matter was they are due in front of their peers any second now, and he looked like he’d just been shot in the chest. “I can’t go out there with this big stain on my shirt. How unprofessional is that?”

“Come here, you big baby,” Louis sighed dramatically, picking up a napkin from where he set his wine down and dabbing it on his tongue to collect a bit of his saliva. Liam scrunched his nose in disgust, but watched as Louis rubbed the cloth along his ruined shirt.

Louis set the napkin down after about a minute, inspecting his work. The stain turned a lighter shade, now a not as noticeable pink coloring on the shirt. Liam huffed a breath through his nose, maneuvering his navy jacket to hopefully conceal the spilled wine.

When he had the jacket where he liked it there’s hardly any discoloration showing, and Louis had to look away because the awkward angle Liam had his jacket pulled over his chest threatens to make him laugh again. Instead, he just threw Liam a thumbs up over his shoulder, and they continued to wait.

The host of tonight’s event, Charles Wilkinson, the president of the board of the Natural History Museum strolled up next to them behind the curtain.

“Big night, eh boys? My grandchildren will be watching back home.” The man, most likely in his early sixties (in all the years Louis’ known him, he’s never figured out his age), spoke calmly.

Louis turned back to Liam, eyes wide. They were going to be televised. Something he should have anticipated considering it is the biggest fossil unveiling in history.

Liam, noticing his silence turned to the gray-haired man and gave him a polite smile. He pleaded silently with his eyes, and Louis watched as Liam screamed internally when all he did was shrug.

Louis let out a nervous chuckle, it sounded almost crazy to his own ears, “Yeah, big night. It’s an honor, really, we can’t even say how massively grateful we are that you’re letting us showcase her here.”

The old man gave a hearty laugh, which promptly turned into a hacking cough. “Of course, boys. Where else would that dino of yours belong? The Americans can’t have everything.”

He smiled up at them, his eyes bright. God, this was probably the most important night of this man’s life too. All his years working for the museum must have led up to this. Years and years of trying to renovate the museum and convince a new generation that history was cool. Louis remembered the times before Meley when he and his team would unveil small fossils, the attendance to those events wasn’t even half of what was on the other side of the curtain.

Now, there they were about to unveil the Greatest Discovery of the Century with more than half of England as their audience.

They all waited a few more minutes, Liam beginning to pace back in forth in front of Louis. He glanced over at Mr. Wilkinson out of the corner of his eye, motionless as the older man peaked at his gold-plated watch.

A woman with an earpiece walked up to Mr. Wilkinson and spoke lowly to him. He huffed out a breath before standing up, “Let’s do this, boys.” Louis felt like shouting into the void. “Let’s give em’ your baby.”

Louis jumped up, placing himself next to Liam. They both stood silent, waiting behind for Mr. Wilkinson to take his place on the stage. It would go like this: Wilkinson would introduce himself, address the board, and finally announce him and Liam. They would go on to do the usual, give thanks to the museum, the board, and the public, then give a brief synopsis of the Sauropod, before finally unveiling her to the public.

As fast as Wilkinson had made his time with them, he was gone, past the curtains and out where the crowd awaited. Louis listened as the crowd fell to a hush as Wilkinson began his spiel.

“Good evening, everyone. And welcome to London’s Natural History Museum...”

Louis once again found himself deep in thought. He went over the steps to the unveiling twice and tried not to psych himself out over the ‘televised’ aspect of the night. The cameras weren’t the problem, really, or the large audience, or the fact that the feed was going to be broadcasted god knows where. No, the real reason Louis felt so on edge was because this would be the last time one of his pieces would be unveiled to the public. It was the last fossil his team would ever get to discover.

Well, not technically their last, since they were still working on uncovering their final fossil of a female Pterodactyl, which was estimated to have lived over 100 million years ago. But, the fossil was already promised to a research lab in Frisco, Texas, so there was no auctioning it off to a museum and getting it displayed properly.

Louis felt a hand on his shoulder, “C’mon Louis, let’s get this over with, yeah?” He looked up at Liam’s face, his eyebrows were pushed together and Louis could tell he was biting the inside of his cheek. He looked just as anxious as Louis felt. In that moment, Louis felt a surge of affection for his partner, and grabbed his hand, giving it a tight squeeze before he let go and lead them out on the small platform.

The crowd erupted into an applause and they stepped up to the glass podium that stood on the platform. Liam stood beside Louis, who placed himself directly in front of the podium, and softly nudged his shoulder, prompting him to begin.

Louis did his best to quietly clear his throat as he gripped the stand with a slight tremor in his hands. He was usually more confident than this, all the days leading up to this were finally getting to him.

He pulled the mic down and waited as the crowd slowly dropped their voices, “Thank you for being here tonight, I’m Dr. Louis Tomlinson, and this is my partner Dr. Liam Payne, and we happily welcome you all tonight to witness the unveiling of our good friend Meley…”

 

* * *

 

 

The unveiling went smoothly. Better than Louis had thought it would. He didn’t fumble over his words, and remembered to thank everyone involved. Liam even managed not to cry, and successfully hid the stain on his shirt the whole time.

As requested by Mr. Wilkinson, he and Liam were supposed to hang around the exhibit and mingle with the guests. Which was alright, except for the same questions being asked over and over. The night went on as Louis and Liam did a few rounds and got their fill of congratulations and expensive wine. They were on their fourth glass, feeling a little bubbly, when they noticed a taller man and woman wearing sunglasses walking up to them. They were both dressed in all black, the man in a sleek tailored jacket, and the woman in a pantsuit and a pair of heels that looked more like weapons than an item of clothing. Something about the uptight, professional air the duo carried as they walked, made Louis feel unsettled.

Louis held back a scoff taking in their appearance, “What, are we being abducted by the men in black or something?”

He was met with a flick to his ear, as Liam sometimes did, telling him to behave.

“Tell me something Liam, who in their right mind wears sunglasses inside, especially when it is pitch black outside?” Louis questioned.

“Um, I don’t know, Lou.”

“Assholes, Liam.” Louis whispered, lowering his voice to a decibel only his partner could hear.

Liam gave him an unimpressed look, mouthing ‘be nice’ as the pair approached them.

“Dr. Tomlinson, Dr. Payne,” The woman addressed them. Louis gave her a practiced smile, ready to thank the woman for any variation of ‘congratulations’ he was about to receive.

“We would like to congratulate both of you, and your entire team, on your discovery on behalf of Twist Corporations.” Louis’ face immediately fell and he felt Liam tense up next to him at the mention of Twist, as the woman continued, “I’m Caroline Watson and this is my colleague Paul Higgins, we were wondering if we could have a moment of your time?”

Both Louis and Liam were shocked into silence. What were Twist’s people doing here? Surely with the “park” about to be opened, there was no way Twist Corporations would be interested in coming to see Meley, or them for that matter, since they were so much smaller in importance. Also, considering that the pair worked for a company whose recent work will most likely overshadow Louis and Liam’s, they had to wonder why exactly they took an interest in coming to see their exhibit.

“Oh, sure.” Liam answered, look of shock still on his face as if his mouth had moved on its own. Louis cursed Liam’s inability to be anything but polite. He watched wordlessly as Caroline gestured that they follow her, and led them swiftly to a corridor at one end of the room, Paul following the group from behind.  
As they followed Caroline, Louis couldn’t help but feel unsettled again. If they were working for Twist and wanting to talk to Louis and Liam, then there couldn’t exactly be a good reason behind their motive.

Edward Twist was a very manipulative businessman, whose work Louis and many other paleontologists were very much against. He had invested millions into converting what once was an island suited for wildlife conservation into an attraction that went against all laws of nature, and god. He hired scientists from all over the world with the pretense that they would be creating history, only to use their experiments and data for something that would mostly benefit his own wallet.

It was a monumental day, when Twist had infiltrated all major media outlets, claiming his tactical team of scientists had brought back a previously extinct species. Everyone was watching as Twist officially confirmed that the species he had brought back onto the Earth was a prehistoric reptilian creature, and that soon the world would be able to witness even more extinct creatures, such as the dinosaurs.

Months later an official statement came out, confirming that Twist’s workers had discovered the gene sequence of a brachiosaurus, and within the year, they were met with astonishment as they created the first live dinosaur in over 65 million years.

Not long after, the genes were taken apart and modified, allowing for the inception of several different dinosaur species.

In an interview, Twist revealed news that he wanted to share what his scientists had accomplished and open the doors to the public. Talk about a type of amusement park were underway and people from around the world were already planning trips to witness Twist’s vision come to life.

But with those who were excited by Twist’s achievements, there were those who were strongly against them. Louis, Liam, and their entire team, were some of the many. For one thing, what Twist had done in creating these animals, was take them out of their own time, and place them in a new age of technological advancements. God only knows what would happen to the animals in this day and age, and how they would react in the presence of humans, or being exploited for money.

Secondly, Louis despised everything about their operations, because it meant a change in the public view. As growing interest in real, living dinosaurs increased, the satisfaction in the old fossils declined steadily. The rich men in suits didn’t care for dirt and bones anymore, withdrawing their funds from excavations around the world, and placing them in the hands of Edward Twist.

While they still received high praise for their find of Meley, it wouldn’t mean anything in a few years time when the park would open and people would forget about their work. Just like computers took over tasks done by hand, Twist and his park would take over the work people in Louis’ field did. It didn’t matter that there could still be more to discover lying under the Earth’s surface, not when you could witness the real thing in person.

Louis hoped it wouldn’t happen to them, but their investors slowly realized they could make more profit investing in the future than investing in the past. They withdrew most of the funds for their dig, leaving just enough for the team to finish the pterodactyl. After that project would be finished, they would be unemployed, and there was no telling what was going to happen.

“So gentlemen,” The man, Paul, spoke evenly. “We’d like you to know that our boss, Edward Twist, has been very interested in your discovery over there, and you both as well.”

Louis rolled his eyes and scoffed, his tone dark. “Hard to believe a man of that importance would be interested in such a decimal project like ours.”

Liam, sensing the tension, barked out a laugh. “Please forgive him. Dr. Tomlinson takes pride in his comedic abilities.” His eyes burned into the side of Louis’ skull. He turned his attention back to the duo. “Please, continue,” he added with a grimace.

It was Caroline who spoke next, looking pointedly at Liam instead of Louis. “Mr. Twist wanted to be here to see your work, but he got caught up in some family business up north in Cheshire. So, since he was unable to make it here today, we wanted to deliver an invitation from Mr. Twist asking you both to join him for dinner sometime next week.”

“Dinner?” Louis asked, almost as if venom were attached to the word. “Are you sure he has time in his busy schedule to sit down with two out of work paleontologists and eat dinner?” Louis knew he was being petty, but he just couldn’t stop himself, even though he knew it earned him more disapproval from his friend.

Despite Liam’s attempt at keeping his face neutral, his jaw dropped. “What my partner means exactly,” he thinks, trying to backtrack. “is that Mr. Twist must be very busy, what with the new park soon opening and all, and that we wouldn’t want to be a burden if all he wants to do is congratulate us.”

Caroline narrowed her eyes looking between the two men.

Just as Louis opened his mouth to protest Liam interrupted, “If it’s not to much to ask, would you give me and my partner a moment, please?”

Liam grabbed Louis by the elbow and hauled him away from Twist’s associates, ignoring Caroline’s calls. He opened the first door he found and pushed Louis inside, “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Louis?”

Louis could count on one hand the number of times he’s seen Liam look this agitated. His eyes were stormy and there was a pink tint creeping up his neck. He didn’t know why Liam was feeling so heated over the situation. Twist was obviously trying to shove it in their face that the were at a dead end by sending his associates to the unveiling. And now he wanted to bring it up another level by inviting them to dinner? No way in hell.

“What do you think you’re doing, Payno?” Louis grumbled as Liam tightened his grip on his elbow. Smirking he said,“If I remember correctly, last time we were in this position we didn’t end up fighting.”

Liam immediately withdrew his hand, a whole different kind of blush heating up his cheeks. He rolled his eyes and smacked Louis on the arm, “Cut it out, that was six years ago.”

Louis winced as he rubbed over the sensitive area Liam just hit. “Look, I don’t see what the big deal is. We don’t like them, or did you forget that?”

He watched as his friend paced back to the door, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. “I don’t like their business either Lou, but I’m not going to be unnecessarily rude to them. You’re acting like a primadonna right now, and I won’t have our name tarnished because you decided to throw a hissy fit.”

Louis could see how tired Liam looked from where he stood, and he surpassed the urge to roll his eyes at him.

“I wasn’t being rude,” Louis weakly argued. “I was just politely declining their offer.”

“There wasn’t anything polite about that, Louis. Besides, what if Mr. Twist wants to have dinner with us for a completely different reason?”

“What do you mean?” There wasn’t much that came to mind that Mr. Edward Twist would want to speak to them about other than Meley.

“Just follow my lead, ok? We better get back out there, I don’t want them thinking we’re even bigger snobs than they probably already presume us to be.” And with that, Liam was pushing the door open and gesturing for Louis to get out before he could even say anything.

Paul had spotted them from the other end of the hall, so there was no way for Louis to keep stalling. Louis gave a long drawn out sigh before heading toward the two associates, his head bowed in surrender. He had to trust whatever Liam had in mind, but he just couldn’t find it in himself to be civil towards anyone working for Twist. But, for his friend’s sake, he decided to just keep his mouth shut, and let Liam take control of the reigns.

“Sorry about that,” Liam said as he replaced his previous anger with a collected demeanor. Louis followed sluggishly behind as he continued, “Where were we?”

Louis listened while Caroline and Paul repeated what they had said earlier, Mr. Twist interested in their work, wanting to have dinner with them, blah blah blah. They handed a small piece of paper to Liam, which Louis guessed to be a business card.

Caroline looked between both of them one last time, “Just give him a call next week and he’d be overjoyed to arrange something with the both of you.”

Paul outstretched his hand toward them, “It was a pleasure meeting you. Good luck on any future plans, boys.”

Louis reluctantly took each hand in his, putting a fake smile on his face, only to replace it with a real one as the duo sashayed away, Caroline’s heels clicking.

Louis sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that night, “See Liam, I told you. Assholes.”

Liam glanced at him, with his eyebrows raised, “We’re going to call him.”

Louis groaned, but he knew there was no changing Liam’s mind at this point.

 

* * *

 

Louis fell onto his bed with a huff, spreading his limbs out like a starfish. His back was sore from standing all night and his feet ached like hell. He was completely drained out. Liam, on the other hand, was still reeling off the buzz from his wine. He was stretched across the floor next to his bed doing reps of one-handed push ups. Louis would have rolled his eyes if he wasn't already used to Liam's anxiety-induced exercising habits. At least he wasn’t crying.

"Why do you think Mr. Twist wants to have dinner with us? His associates seemed rather desperate, don't you think?" Liam panted out in between switching hands.

Louis sat up in his bed, staring at Liam's thumb shaped head go up and down. "Well, it can't be anything good. Twist is a dirty fucker. And not in the good way.”

Liam snorted, "Yeah I know that, but it's just weird innit? Especially considering his park is opening soon."

All Louis managed was another grunt as he laid down on his back this time, staring up at the small tiles that made up the ceiling. He folded his hands over his chest, thinking for a minute, Liam's heavy breathing the only noise in the room.

What could Twist want from them? It's not like Louis and Liam had much to offer a man like that, anyway.

"What if he wants to offer us a job," Louis almost missed what Liam said. He turned his head in Liam's direction.

"Liam, I'm a paleontologist and you're a paleobotanist. I don't think there's a wide job field for us at Twist's park." He fixed Liam with a serious face, "I mean, sure I guess I could work the candy floss booth and you could dress up as a T-rex, if you want to, you know, broaden your horizons."

Liam sat up on his haunches and turned around to face Louis, "I would make such a good T-rex and you know it."

Louis laughed despite himself, imagining his friend in a cartoony dinosaur costume and posing for pictures. He wouldn't last a day.

"We'll be ok, Lou." Liam said from where he sat on the floor leaning against his own bed. He could sense Louis was still in the state of worry he hadn't been able to shake off since Twist revealed his plans. The thought of losing their jobs, their careers, was too much for anyone on their team to digest. But Louis had definitely taken it the worst.

In a way, the excavations Louis contributed to were all he had, they were his whole life. Liam never understood his type of dedication to the field, don't get him wrong, he loved it as well. But to him it was just a job, he'd never built up that unique passion Louis had. To Louis, it was more than just digging up bones. It was a scientific discovery that created the past, one he got the chance to uncover himself.

Louis sighed, comforted for the moment. He hoped Liam was right. He offered Liam a soft smile in return and stuck his hand out for a fist bump. Liam stretched his sweaty, socked foot out instead, making Louis retract his hand with a noise of disgust.

"God, you stink, get in the shower you heathen."  
  
Liam giggled at Louis' dramatic retching noises and went about gathering his things.

The next morning, they woke up at eight, and packed up their things before heading out. After a quick breakfast from the McDonald's drive-thru, Louis and Liam completed the drive up to their dig site. They only had a few weeks left, the bird they’d been working on for almost a year nearly completed.

The journey took three hours, full of Liam's bad taste in music, to which he insisted on singing along to. By the time they reached the site, Louis’ ass had completely gone numb, and he let out a hiss when he stepped foot on the rocks.

The sun was already out and insistent as the boys made their way toward the station. They could see a few people in the distance already setting to work. They had dressed down considerably from the night before, donning their usual work attire; Liam in a plain white shirt and cargo shorts, a plaid red button up tied around his waist, and Louis with a pair of mid-thigh jean shorts and a gray vest that hugged his petite frame.

Most of the team had already seen them arrive, and waited for them by the mostly unearthed fossil. They were met with claps on the back and small cheers from their friends, even a few hugs here and there.

Liam was quick to simmer down their praise, "Honestly guys, we don’t deserve this praise. We were just the messengers. We all uncovered Meley together, so if anyone deserves a round of applause, it’s you all.”

Louis nodded along, sliding his ray bans down his face. Jesy, a member on their team, called out to him just as he was beginning to head to one of the trailers

“Hard to believe that was you last night, Tomlinson. It was weird seeing you without a layer of dirt on your face.”

Louis saw her grinning and flicked her off, “I know how to clean up, thank you. There are these fantastic inventions called showers.”

She simply shrugged as he passed her work station bee-lining towards the trailer he shared with Liam. His partner was already inside, lounging on the sofa staring at his phone as if it had the meaning of life written on it.

He jumped to his feet upon Louis’ arrival, “Good you’re here, we need to call him.”

Louis furrowed his eyebrows, confused for a minute. Need to call who- oh. Right. Liam was still on the idea that they should take up Twist’s dinner offer, he had mentioned it to Louis a total of five times on their way up to the dig site.

“Can’t you give me a minute of peace, Liam. We just spent three hours stuffed inside a car together. I just want to rest a moment before I go out there.”

The last part was muffled as Louis shoved his face into the armrest Liam had just been leaning against. He heard Liam sigh from above him and felt as he sat next to where his feet didn’t reach the end of the couch.

“Lou,” He began, sounding exhausted. “Remember all those years ago, when we were in the middle of nowhere, not a single rock in site that resembled a bone?” Louis nodded his head from where it was perched on the couch, knowing exactly what Liam was going to say. “And I got this feeling that I couldn’t explain, and I said we should move north where the mountains were because it was like I knew something was there.”

He remembered all right. How could he not?

“It was a few days after we relocated that you stumbled across that first bone, which led us to Meley. And I have that feeling again, like we are meant to meet with Twist. Something is going to happen, and I’m asking you to trust me like you did all those years ago.”

God, Liam was a sap, but he was also smart and Louis was helpless against his earnest brown eyes. He was still up in the air about what Twist’s intentions were, but deep down he knew Liam was right, no matter how much he wished he wasn’t.

He threw his arms up in defeat, grunting when his arms flopped back to his sides. It was pointless to argue anymore. “Fine, we’ll call him. But you can do the talking.”

Liam smiled in victory down at the back of Louis’ head, and grabbed his phone and the business card from last night off the table. Louis listened as Liam settled himself against the cushions and dialed the number, his fingers tapping away. He thought maybe he could fit in a short nap before he had to go out again, but the second Liam put the phone to his ear and the faint sounds of the dial tone could be heard, he found himself feeling uneasy.

“Hello, this is Liam Payne, I would like to speak with Edward Twist.“ Louis rolled over and sat up, gesturing to Liam that he was going to step out. Liam’s eyes widened and he started shaking his head no, but Louis just waved him off with a quick thumbs up as he crossed the trailer and pushed open the door. Sliding his ray bans back on, he hopped down the steps and landed on the dusty rock.

He could tell his team had worked diligently yesterday and today while they were gone. Most of the bird’s left wing bones had been dislodged from the earth and tightly covered in white plaster.

That only left the skull bones, which would take the longest since they were the largest pieces.

Louis walked up to one of the stations and picked up a chisel, some other tools, and a pair of gloves. He crouched down to where Jesy had moved, next to Leigh-Anne and Luke, and began chiseling away at the rock that contained the top of the skull.

The others greeted him as he settled about working, he returned their ‘hellos’ as he smoothed over a newly exposed piece of bone. His team was definitely one of the best in the field, if he did say so himself. Their passion for archaeology brought them together and made them work seamlessly as a team. In the last few years, they had grown into a tight-knit family and Louis cared for each and every one of them. Which is why he was worried about his soon-to-be unemployment status, because he would be sharing it with them.

“So,” Louis started, his breath shaky, not knowing how to approach the sore subject. He didn’t look up to meet any of their eyes, but he could feel them waiting for him to continue. “Hard to believe the bird’s almost done. Feels like we just found her yesterday.”

No one said anything besides Jesy, who gave a quiet hum, which he was almost grateful for.

He should just spit it out. Their problems were his problems too. “Look I know this is something we don’t like to talk about,” He set down his tool, finally growing the courage to look up at the small part of his team. They mirrored his actions, setting down their brushes and stilling. “But I need you all to have already found some placement for after we finish the bird. So, please tell me you’ve gotten something.”

It was Louis’ job as the team leader to figure this out. The team had too much too lose in themselves and their lives back home. Many had families they needed to support on their own, and he promised himself he wouldn’t start looking at his options until he knew each and everyone in his group had a plan.

He heard Luke clear his throat where he sat. “Um, there’s a team, working in Skye up in Scotland. They are still being funded for another 5 years, and are looking for a few people to join them.” Louis looked at him expectantly. “I took their offer.”

He released a breath of relief. One down, nine more to go.

“I took it as well.” Leigh-Anne muttered on the other side of Luke, the corners of her lips curving up into a barely visible smile.

Eight more and he could rest easy. His head tilted slightly to Jesy on his right, meeting her dark eyes. She was one of the ones who had a family, who desperately needed another way to make money for herself and her three year old daughter.

“Lou I haven’t….” She stopped shortly, thinking about what to say next. “I haven’t found anything because,” Louis held his breath. “I don’t want anything.”

“What do you mean?” The words slid out of his mouth before she could finish.

She answered him calmly, without breaking his gaze. “I want to be with my family, Lou. I haven’t seen my daughter in months, and I’ve barely been in her life. She sees her grandmother more than she sees me. I need time to be her mum.”

A wetness prickled at the side of Louis’ eyes, and he blinked to settle it back with a frown. He felt a tug at his own heart, knowing how hard is was for Jesy to leave her daughter when she was just a baby. She was in good hands with her grandmother, who sent pictures of her everyday to Jesy, but it wasn’t enough. And the few small breaks they got year round she took to go see them weren’t either. But, Jesy needed money. If she wanted to be a good mum, she had to be able to provide for the both of them.

Louis looked between Luke and Leigh-Anne who remained frozen in their places. “Will you guys give us a minute?” They silently trudged away, leaving him alone with Jesy. He’d rather not have such a personal conversation with an audience

“Jes… You can’t take care of a child on your own with no job.” He took in the wrinkles beginning on her forehead, and the bags creating craters around her eyes. She hadn’t been getting enough sleep most nights, he knew, all the stress from the job and what she would do after affecting her body. She needed something, because Louis wasn’t going to sit back and watch her and her daughter fight like his family had to.

“My mum is taking us in,” She finally replied, a hint of worry in her voice. “Until we can manage on our own. I have some money, Louis. We’ll be fine for a while. When she starts school next year, then I’ll find something. We’re gonna be fine, Lou.”

God, he felt like crying. Both out of relief and heartbreak over the whole situation. “Are you sure?”

She moved closer to him, and before he could react, she pulled him him tightly to her chest, sniffling in his ear. “Of course I’m sure. You worry too much, darling.”

“It’s my job,” He hugged back, hooking his chin on her shoulder. He wasn’t going to cry. “We’re a family. Have been ever since Liam was dumb enough to lead us towards that Sauropod.”

She chuckled at the memory, causing Louis to join in as well, no move to let his friend go just yet.

They broke their embrace as the door to the trailer swung open and Liam beckoned Louis over. He got up and sighed. Seven more to go.

Jesy waved him off when he offered her an apologetic smile. He headed back towards the trailer and followed Liam inside, closing the door behind himself.

Liam started talking the minute they both found themselves sat on the sofa in their previous positions. “He wants to meet this Tuesday at seven at some fancy restaurant called ‘Le Seigneur de Poulet’, ever heard of it?”

“Nope.” Louis responded, popping the ‘p’. Of course he’d want to meet them at some restaurant named after a chicken. He was already dreading the night, he’d probably have to wear another suit. Traveling to London twice in the span of five days wasn’t exactly how Louis liked to spend his time.

“Anyway, we should leave for London sometime that afternoon,” Liam continued.

Louis couldn’t help the sigh that escaped past his lips as he leaned his head back. They were actually going to meet with Twist, then. Meet with him, and accept his congratulations, and who knows what else the man would want? Hopefully he would at least have to courtesy to pay for their meals considering a plate in his choice of restaurant would probably cost them a mini-fortune.

He made a noncommittal noise, and Liam turned to him, giving him a soft smile, “I know you’re worried about everyone, Lou. But you need to have faith they’ll work it out for themselves, you’ve got enough on your plate as it is.”

It’s times like these Louis remembered why he and Liam have stayed best friends for so long. They just get each other, can easily read what’s on the other’s mind. Louis hadn’t always found Liam as brilliant as he does now. The first time they’d met had been filled with annoyed remarks and bewildered looks. Louis had been a menace his entire life and it had taken Liam some getting used to at first. And on the other hand, Louis had never met anyone more uptight than Liam in his sophomore year. They were never a pair meant to be friends, but in the end it had just worked.

In fact, sometimes it had worked a little too well. They gave dating a shot six years ago, but decided it was too weird and let that idea go. Sex, on the other hand, they decided wasn’t too weird for them. The whole friends with benefits ordeal sounded much more appealing than a relationship that involved feelings and commitment. Although it didn’t last very long. Liam met a dancer named Danielle by next fall, and had immediately fallen head over heals for her. Liam had always fallen too quickly, something that would be the fall of him by the end of that school year. Danielle turned out be manipulative and verbally-abusive. Liam had convinced himself he was in love with her, which forced Louis to save him from anymore of Danielle’s nastiness. After that he was a mess of self-doubt and found himself second guessing anyone who tried to get close to him.

They’d been through so much together, and Louis guessed they wouldn’t be getting rid of each other any time soon.

 

* * *

 

Tuesday came quicker than Louis thought it would. And, soon enough, he found himself back in the passenger seat of Liam’s worn out pickup truck. They had told the team they had another meeting in London, withholding who exactly it was with. In the days since Saturday, they’d gotten a lot of the pterodactyl unearthed and were well on their way to be finished. Louis guessed a week or two and the project would be done.

Liam turned up his playlist of r&b classics, not missing a note as he sang along, while Louis went on his phone and replied to some e-mails. Most were ‘Congratulations!’ emails, and there was even one from his mum, with photos attached of his family. His eyes crinkled as he lovingly scanned the pictures of his younger siblings. Ernest and Doris were almost seven now, and Phoebe and Daisy were graduating high school at the end of the year. Fizzy and Lottie were long out of the house and attending uni, and Louis marveled at just how fast the night changed.

Liam decided to turn the music down at that point as he stopped at a red light, he turned to face Louis. “You have to promise me you’ll be civil in there, Tommo.”

“When am I not civil, Payno?” Louis shot him a look from where he leaned against the cool glass of the window. Liam gave him the same raised-eyebrow look, his with a hint more of disbelief. “Look, I promise, I’ll pretend not to dislike him as much as I really do.”

Liam hummed at his reply and turned the radio back up. They drove for a while longer, bouts of nonsensical conversation filling the silence and of course, Liam’s singing. Eventually the roads began to get narrower as they got closer to the city, and the traffic got heavier. Liam wasn’t the best driver when it came to city streets, but if Liam was bad Louis was worse, they managed though.

Soon enough, Liam was parallel parking into a space in front of a black building with the name ‘Le Seigneur de Poulet’ etched in illuminated cursive letters. The inside of the restaurant was dark and as the two men walked up to the door Louis could smell over priced food being cooked inside. His stomach rumbled at the potent aromas, reminding him that all he’d had for lunch was a bag of crisps and a hot tea they’d picked up at a rest stop.

Liam opened the door, Louis following him into the restaurant. The Maitre D was looking down, writing something in the log in front of them when they approached. Louis cleared his throat loudly.

“Welcome to Le Seigneur de Poulet,” the Maitre D said quickly looking up with a perfected smile. Louis couldn’t tell if their french accent was phony to give ambiance, or not.

“We have a reservation, under Twist.” Louis said curtly, glancing at the beret that was placed on the blonde head of the Maitre D.

The Maitre D’s eyes widened and they straightened up, “Oh, you must be Mr. Tomlinson and Payne?”

Louis nodded as Liam let out a ‘yes’, the Maitre D beckoned one of the waiters urgently and whispered something in their ear. The waiter reacted the same way and turned to the pair with wide eyes.

“If you’ll follow me, Mr. Twist has reserved a private table for your party.” The waiter led them through the linen tables and posh customers to a room on the farthest end of the building, Liam following behind, and Louis after. As they passed the dimly lit tables, Louis caught glimpses of the customers, and of their expensive looking accessories. He felt mildly underdressed in his black trousers and dark red button up, and Liam in a thin white blouse and dark jeans. He was wearing black vans for christ sake.

They swiftly made their way through the maze of tables towards the back of the restaurant, where behind a dark purple drape hid a wooden door. The waiter pulled out a key and pushed open the door, gesturing for Louis and Liam to enter.

Inside, the room contrasted with the rest of the restaurant for it had proper lighting from a chandelier overhead. At the other side of the table sat a man Louis could only assume to be Twist.

He didn’t look like a man who would empty an entire science field of jobs, in fact he looked rather grandfatherly. His hair was grey and thinning, and when he stood up, Louis took in his almost intimidating height, and the plumpness of his frame. He guessed the man to be at least seventy years old.

Twist extended his arm out to the boys, “Edward Twist, it’s great to finally meet you both.”

His voice came out gritty and his hand was rough where Louis grasped it. The cufflinks on the ends of his sleeve had YSL embroidered in the metal. They were probably some brand Louis would never be able to afford, or pronounce.

“Pleasure to meet you, as well, sir.” Liam replied as he firmly shook the man’s hand. Louis nodded, trying to keep his face from projecting any of the disgust he felt for the arrogant way Twist shook their hands. He didn’t even know you could shake hands arrogantly, but Twist was just proof that you could.

Louis and Liam sat down next to one another in the seats across from Twist.

“Why don’t we start off with some drinks?” The waiter asked, startling Louis a bit. He almost forgot he was still there.

He glanced over the drink section of the menu while Twist read off his drink order. “We’ll get a bottle of Pinot Grigio for the whole table, please.”

Well, looks like that was settled then.

He heard Liam give a content hum, and turned back to Twist as the waiter left them alone for the first time.

Louis watched as Twist looked between the two men before speaking, “First off, boys, I’d just like to say congratulations on the sauropod, but I’m sure you’ve been getting plenty of that lately.”

Louis caught himself from rolling his eye. Just like Louis had predicted, Twist had called them down all the way from London just to express his compliments on their work. Honestly, he could have just done it over the phone, but he wasn’t going to complain that much when he was getting a free gourmet meal out of it.

He put on his best fake smile, baring his teeth for the old man. “Thank you sir, we appreciate such flattery, especially coming from a man of your status.” Louis finished off with a grin so fake, he hoped it wouldn’t be too obvious that he was slowly dying inside.

The waiter returned shortly with the bottle of Pinot, pouring a generous amount into each glass, and finally placing the bottle into the ice bucket on the table. He then proceeded to take their orders. Liam settled for the pasta linguini, while Louis, being the brat that he is, ordered the most expensive ratatouille and a truffle risotto. Twist didn’t place an order from the menu, but Louis guessed he didn’t have to, since the waiter promptly asked him if he’d like to have his usual.

Of course he’d be a regular at this type of restaurant. Louis was just glad to be separated from the tables outside, he would have been squirming in his seat and uncomfortable in the presence of such glamorous guests. It’s not as if Louis couldn’t afford to eat at places like this. He just never wanted to constantly surround himself with elite people like the ones who had attended the unveiling. He could never imagine himself and Liam having lunch on the patio of one of the elegant bistros downtown.

Louis couldn’t help but feel a tad puzzled though, as to why they would need to have a sit down dinner for Twist to praise them for their work.

He opened his mouth to voice his thoughts once the waiter was gone, but found that Twist had already beat him to it.

“I know you both are smart enough to have figured out by now that I didn’t just invite you down here for congrats and small talk.” He spoke bluntly and to the point, shocking Louis into snapping his mouth shut. “I’m going to get right out with it. I like you both. And given the exhibit you boys recently unveiled, I can say I’m very interested in what you have done with your careers.”

Louis tensed up, and he could sense Liam did the same. This wasn’t a good thing. The most powerful man in the industry being interested in your work usually led to something, and in this case Louis doubted it could be good. He wondered if the feeling in his stomach was the one Liam had been talking about before. If it was, he was going to cut his head off with a dirty chainsaw because it was not a pleasant one.

Twist continued, “I’m sure you’ve heard about my most recent project, Jurassic Park.” Louis almost snorted, because who hasn’t heard of his dino exploiting park?

Both men nodded and Twist spoke again, “Well, my team of associates and I are heading over there in a few days, down off the coast of Costa Rica, and I’d love it if you two would join us as well.”

Louis felt his stomach drop. Liam choked on his drink next to him, coughing into the napkin a couple of times while Louis sat there paralyzed.

Edward Twist wanted them to go to his park. What kind of fever dream did Louis step into that those were actual words voiced by Twist himself?

Once Liam began breathing properly again he wheezed out a, “Excuse-moi?"

“Let me explain, please,” Twist started. “We’re going for a summer opening of Jurassic Park. We have nearly everything ready, but we’re missing a few essential pieces. Or people, I should say.”

Louis wiped a few beads of sweat that pooled over his forehead. Somehow it had gotten a lot hotter in the room than when they’d been working in the blaring sun all day. “I’m sorry Ed, I don’t quite understand what that has to do with us.”

Twist was quick to reply, “I’m not being biased when I say this Doctor, but you have made a name for yourself, and you are arguably on of the best paleontologists in the field.” He turned to give Liam his attention next. “And you, Dr. Payne, your research on prehistoric plant species outweighs the rest, alongside your work with Dr. Tomlinson.”

“So you’re…”

“So I’m offering you both positions at my park,” He laid out with a blinding smile, interrupting Louis. “The park is great, and it’s coming along nicely, but there are things most of the workers there don’t understand. I thought hiring zoologists would be enough, but what I really need is you, two of the most knowledgeable people in the field, to tie all the aspects of the park together. So that we can finally get her up and running. And I understand that your excavations aren’t being funded anymore. So I figure this would be a win win situation."

Louis could feel shock coursing through his body. Liam was sitting fidgety next to him, his right leg jiggling up and down in a nervous manner. He didn't know whether to feel insulted, flattered, or anything at all. One minute they'd been talking about Louis and Liam's achievement and the next, Twist was offering them a job. A job at the park Louis was very much against. There was no way they were going to accept the offer.

He turned towards his friend, looking for some sense of direction in this crazy situation they'd gotten themselves into. Liam turned to him as well, the color had drained out of his face and he looked seconds away from having a meltdown or worse, from crying.

“Um…” He tried, feeling his tongue suddenly dry, at a loss of what to say. “We um, appreciate the offer but um, we are in the middle of uncovering our last fossil, and as much as I wish we could…”

“I can imburse the team for however long it takes them to get it done with four less hands, gentlemen.” He cut him off again, and Louis was feeling ready to smack him. “I can even double what you’ve been funded now, if it means that you’ll accept the offer.”

Louis' blood boiled at that, this man actually thought he could just buy them away from their team? So they could go work for his immoral amusement park?

No, Louis refused to be bought like everything else this man has manipulated into his hands. He was getting ready to tell Twist exactly that when Liam spoke up.

"We'd like to take some time to think it over, if that's alright." Liam, clearly having regained his composure, said firmly.

Twist nodded along, "Of course, of course. I know what I'm asking of you is a lot. I'll give you the night to sleep on it, hopefully by morning you'll have made a decision and could stop by my office to deliver it."

Louis gave another one of his award-winning faux grins. There was no way they were saying yes. No way.

 

* * *

 

 

There was no way they were walking into Twist’s office right now.

Yet, Louis found himself trailing after Liam as he followed a secretary towards a big wooden door in somewhere in downtown London. She knocked on the door a reply of, "come in," followed shortly.

Once the door was pushed open, both Louis and Liam stepped inside coming to face Edward Twist once more, this time he sat behind a desk.

Louis felt a mix of nausea and disappointment when his eyes landed on the blown up map of Jurassic Park framed to the wall behind Twist's desk. He couldn’t believe they were actually there and were going to accept the insulting offer from last night. It had been a long night at the hotel, Louis had refused to give in but Liam gave his whole 'i got that feeling in my stomach, Louis' speech, and Louis was weak. At least he was comforted in knowing that Liam had been right about Twist wanting more from their dinner than just a chance at congratulating them. There was only one way Louis was going to accept the job, and he was going to counter Twist with his own offer.

But not comforted enough to actually want to be in that office. He sighed as Twist set down his glasses, and looked up to greet them.

"Good morning, boys. I'm guessing you're here to deliver your answer."

Louis stood back as Liam took a seat in one of the white, cushioned chairs, only because he didn’t want to get comfortable if they were just going to walk right back out.

“I want to make something clear to you, Mr. Twist.” His voiced raised and unperturbed. “My team is my family. The creation of your park has hit us hard. Many still have nothing planned for after we finish our current fossil. And I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t take any job offer until I knew every single member of my team had something to continue with.” He inhaled deeply, feeling both pairs of eyes on him. He hoped he was saying things right. “The only way you will ever get me to step foot on that park is if you find something for them too. I don’t want them at the park and they don’t even have to work for your company, but you and your people have to find them something.”

Louis finished his speech, staring down at Twist from where he stood beside the second white chair. Liam smiled encouragingly up at Louis.

Mr. Twist raised his eyebrows while he digested what Louis just proposed. He stayed silent as he thought to himself for a moment, before glancing back towards the pair in front of him.

"If that's all it'll take for you to agree, consider it done. In fact," Twist clicked around a few times on his computer before reaching over to the left corner of his desk and picking up the landline. He quickly dialed a number and set the phone to his ear giving Louis and Liam a 'watch this' look before he spoke into the speaker.

"I’m sending you a list of names. I want positions filled by this evening.” In an instant there was a notepad and a pen that dragged across the sleek mahogany, and Twist motioned for Louis to scribble the names down.

His brain was on autopilot at that point, not registering what the older man just said and not knowing what to think. Though still cautious, his feet stepped forward gradually, and without giving it another thought, he jotted down the names of only four people, who he had discovered during the weekend had yet to grab any job.

As he lifted the pen to set it down he paused a moment, remembering Jesy’s situation, and while she may not have wanted a job at the very moment, she would need one after the year. His mind was already made up. The ink splattered against the pad, spelling out her name. Next to it, he noted in parenthesis _(Next Year)._

Liam looked at Louis, clearly impressed. That certainly wasn't what they had expected when they'd agreed to it last night. Louis, for example, had walked up the steps of Twist Corporations ready to be shot down and sent on his way, hopefully to never have to set foot in Jurassic Park. Instead, they were given exactly what they had wanted, and that was a good thing. Louis still had that awful, sinking feeling inside him as he took a seat in the chair next to Liam’s.

Louis and Liam waited as Twist hung up and typed away at his computer for a few more moments. Once he finished, he looked up at the two men seated in front of him.

“Well, you can consider that done.” He said as he linked his wrinkled hands on top of his desk. “If those are all the requests you have, I’d like to begin briefing you on what you can expect from the park.”

Louis sighed quietly under his breath, the reality of the situation finally sinking in. He wasn’t completely on board with the idea yet, and they didn’t even officially accept the positions yet. But sooner rather than later he would be expected to be okay with it. Twist continued,

“I don’t want to just throw you two into the arena and leave you to fend for yourselves, so the purpose of this first trip is so you can explore the park. Really get a feel for what it’s all about.”

After his almost worrisome silence, Liam cleared his throat before interjecting, “We are massively thankful for this once in a lifetime opportunity, sir.”

Louis whipped his head in Liam’s direction, why was Liam being such a kiss up all of a sudden? Last night he’d agreed with Louis about not really wanting to work for Twist, that they would just go to his office to propose a deal. A deal they didn’t think Twist would agree to. He sounded almost relieved at Twist’s words, and it didn’t make any sense. He could only tie it back to Liam’s ‘feeling’ about everything.

“Please, I should be thanking you for accepting the jobs,” Louis almost wanted to correct him, they hadn’t said yes to anything yet, much less signed any type of binding contract. “We need some help at the park, just some minor finishing details.”

“What kind of details?’ Louis asked suspicious of Twist’s vague job description.

He watched as the man’s joyful expression darkened slightly, faltering for a split second before he smiled at Louis.

“It’s nothing you two wouldn’t be able to handle. But, you see, some of the animal life has been catching an illness, the scientists at the park don’t seem to know the exact cause. The only data that they’ve found useful is that the disease is being traced back to a possible plant on the island.”

Louis felt a twinge of something he couldn’t quite pinpoint. Something close to satisfaction, but also between the lines of sympathy. He would never wish death upon a living thing, but it didn’t come as much as a surprise that Twist’s revolutionary dinosaur park had encountered a flaw in their system. But if they were going to take the jobs, he might as well know what he was up against,

“What are the symptoms for this illness?” Twist pulled out a folder from a pile on his desk. He opened in and took the first page out and slid it over to Louis.

  
**_Symptoms:_ **

  * **_Fatigue lasting over 12 hours_**
  * **_Gastroenteritis_**
  * **_Dark spots appearing near the face and neck_**
  * **_Stiff joints and muscles_**



Louis read over the list twice, handing it to Liam when he finished. He could hear Liam’s brain working from where he sat, he was probably going through every single plant that he thought would possibly cause those symptoms. He set the paper down, “Do you have a detailed list of what plant species are currently living on the island? It would be useful to go over it a couple of times before arriving at the island.”

Twist nodded seriously towards Liam, “I will make sure a list gets to you before your departure, as well as your plane tickets for Friday morning.”

Before either Liam or Louis could ask anymore questions, a knock on the door interrupted them.

“Mr. Twist, your one o’clock is here to see you.” Twist gave the pair an apologetic smile before standing up. Louis and Liam did the same as the three of them crossed the office and headed towards the door. By the looks of it, Louis wouldn’t have to spend too long inside the Twist building, after all.

“Well, it was a pleasure doing business with you, boys. All of the forms will be sent to you by this evening.” Twist said before he shook each of their hands, thanking them once more. Louis looked at the man while he shook his hand, trying to subdue the feeling that what they had just agreed to wouldn’t come back to bite them in the ass.

He spun around, just wanting to get out of there as soon as possible, but instead he found himself colliding face first into a lace-covered shoulder, the fabric scratching at his cheek. He felt a slight sting where his skin had harshly brushed against the rough fabric.

“Oops, sorry!”

As Louis stepped back, putting space between himself and whoever he had just walked into, the first thing he saw were birds. A pair of tattooed birds that laid under an intricate design of black lace. He looked up to see what kind of person would be showcasing such a tattoo in this type of- attire.

Oh. Louis ran his eyes up the person’s very much exposed chest, past their broad shoulders where the ends of brown wavy hair rested, and slightly parted lips that were possibly the exact same shade as strawberries, up the slope of their nose, finally reaching a pair of wide green eyes.

“Hi um,” He paced backwards, this time into Liam. He locked his fingers around his wrist, pulling his partner out the door and past the stranger. “We were just leaving.”

The tall, lace-clad newcomer caught them before Louis could walk around and past them. “Is your cheek all right?” He gestured towards his own face, a look of concern gracing his features. His very symmetrical features.

Louis tightened his grip on Liam’s wrist pulling him along as he took another step forward, he watched as the stranger zeroed in on the point of contact between their hands, “Yeah, it’s fine..”

Louis trailed off as he took in the rest of the man’s outfit. A lace button up with surprisingly nothing underneath, exposing the birds mentioned before, skin-tight dark jeans, and a pair of heeled boots. He definitely didn’t look like he worked in the office building.

His attention left the out-of-place man when Twist nearly shouted, causing Liam to shove him towards the hallway.

“Harry, my boy!”

When Louis looked back to the stranger, Harry, he’d turned to face Twist with a soft smile. Louis shook his head and nodded to Liam that they should leave. Liam gave him a curious look but followed as Louis led the way towards the lifts.

He happened to sneak a glance back at Twist, taken aback when the younger man placed a kiss on his cheek, molding to his side when Twist wrapped his bulky arm around the man’s waist. Huh. It was no secret that men with Twist’s status invested in those types of- services. He just didn’t think Twist to be that kind of man, if he’s being honest, but it certainly wasn’t surprising either.

He was still grimacing when they reached the lifts, catching Liam’s attention.

“Do you think that other guy was here for the same reason as us? He looked like he knew Twist well enough.”

Liam snagged the button for the ground floor, and Louis held back the nerve to laugh in his friend’s face. “That’s not why.... Oh, Liam. Silly little Liam.”

“What?”

Louis just laughed, Liam was really naive sometimes.

When he settled, he faced his friend, exhaling the air that had built up in his lungs. Liam looked back at him with a sour face, crossing his arms over his chest.

“What?” He repeated.

Everything hit him with a ton of bricks in that moment. They’d gone from despising Twist and his work, meeting with him for dinner, and took on a job with him in all under a week.

“We’re going to Jurassic Park.”

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblrs: jurassicparkau  
> loudloudandloud  
> stanleylucas
> 
> :)


	3. Chapter 2

Out the window of the Twist Corporations’ private jet, Louis could see the green strip of Central America in the distance. It looked warm and inviting, as opposed to the frigid weather they were climatized to in the UK. The sounds of The Avengers played in his right ear as Liam watched from the small screen  in front of them. At the exact moment Tony Stark decided to fly into the wormhole created by the Tesseract a voice came on the intercom,

 “Passengers we are now preparing our descent in Juan Santamaria International Airport, please remain seated while the seatbelt light is on, we will be landing in about twenty minutes. Thank you for flying with us today on Air Twist.”

 Louis was the first to perk up at the announcement, sitting up straighter in his leather seat and rolling his shoulders to release some of their tension. The flight from Heathrow to Juan Santamaria was a grueling 12 hours, the longest time he’d been sitting down in a seat since uni. His back was stiff, his neck felt like it had a million needles pressed into it, and his legs were uncomfortably numb; the three hour long car trips with Liam to London were pieces of cake compared to this. He successfully dislodged Liam’s head from where it had been leaning on his right arm, causing his friend to start with a confused hum.

 Why Liam had chosen to sit right next to Louis when they had an entire selection of five or six couches to choose from, he does not know.

 Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Liam turned to him, “Are we here?”

 Louis gave a noise of confirmation, as he felt around the ground for his left shoe, it had somehow gotten lost among the complimentary blankets and magazines they’d been given. As he searched, he thought back to twelve hours ago at the terminal.

 The whole team had shown up to send them off. Stan and Jesy had even made a sign with ‘We’ll Miss You Pterrably’ written in a font that looked like bones, finished off with sad cartoon pterodactyl. They had all been surprisingly supportive of Louis and Liam’s decision to work for Twist, contrasting heavily to how they’d first reacted upon hearing the news. The team had broke into chaos when Twist was even mentioned, but eventually Liam had calmed them down and everyone had sat down to hear their explanation. They were hurt at first, thinking that they were just going to leave them to fend for themselves while drinking champagne out of diamond encrusted champagne flutes, and it took a little while for them to change their perception of the situation.

 The big game changers being the fact that they were getting paid double to finish up the bird, and that whoever didn’t have a job lined up yet was going to be given one. Louis explained to them that he always kept his promises, and the only reason he was doing this was for all of them.

 After that, there had been a lot of thanking and encouragement, even some tears. It had sort of felt like the last day of school with all the hugging and ‘I’ll miss you’s, except the team still had two weeks left to finish up the pterodactyl and Louis and Liam weren’t leaving until the end of that week. Everyone had left that day exhausted with all the emotions that had gone around, but most were grateful for the opportunity they’d been given for their futures. Louis was especially grateful, feeling the heavy burden lift off his shoulders. It had weighed down on him for months, and even though he was still unsure about the whole situation, the fact that the rest of the team would be taken care of after they were gone put him a little at ease.

 Once Louis had secured that both shoes were on his feet, he sat back in his seat as the feeling of falling settled in his stomach. He never particularly liked landings, he wasn’t one of the nauseous types, but he did not enjoy the way his stomach flipped and his ears popped. Liam on the other hand, was a natural. He leaned back against the plush headrest and looked out the window next to Louis.  

 As they neared the ground, Louis could see green everywhere. Palm trees lined the runway and led to a mini forest of them beyond the airport grounds. It seemed like someone had pointed at a random spot on the map and decided to build an airport there, the point being located smack in the middle of a rainforest. The procedures for leaving the plane ran swiftly, and soon enough they were stepping down the stairs, backpacks on their backs, Liam gripping their shared suitcase for the weekend, and breathing in the humid air of Costa Rica.

 The sun shined insistently as they made their way off the plane, forcing them to shield their eyes, their sunglasses probably somewhere at the bottom of their bags. As they walked forward they spotted a broad framed man wearing board shorts and darkly tinted sunglasses standing next to a golf cart, holding a sign that read, “Dr. Louis Tomlinson & Lima Payne” in sharpie marker.

 Louis spotted the man first and nudged Liam who was fiddling with the suitcase handle, “C’mon Lima I think that’s our ride.”

 Liam peered from under his hand and gasped indignantly at the sign. “You think they’d at least spell our names right,” he huffed.  

 A little hint of a giggle snuck out of Louis’ mouth, receiving a harsh elbow to the gut from his friend.  “They spelled mine right.” He smirked, adjusting the burgundy beanie over his hair. It was already getting warm, and the back of his neck was moist to the touch when he swiped the back of his hand against it. The heavy winter clothes he wore for London definitely were not primitive for them now, so he rushed to get his wool coat and hat off. He would just have to suffer in his jeans until they got to the island for him to change.

 They reached the man, who gave them an emotionless nod and gestured for them to seat themselves inside the golf cart as he took the small carryon, placing it in the trunk.

All the man said to them in the seven minute ride was a heavily accented, "Mr. Twist provided a helicopter to bring you to the island." To which Louis and Liam gave their thanks to.

 As the sleek helicopter came into view, Louis swallowed a gasp. It all suddenly felt too real. The helicopter was huge, the Twist logo running along the shiny metallic surface. It was stationed in a secluded sector of the airport, the only movement around being a few workers who were packing luggage, and the grey head of Edward Twist, whose stance by the door of the helicopter was nothing short of intimidating. Next to him stood someone significantly shorter, and blonder.

 The cart pulled over finally, coming to a screeching halt right in front of the two men. The new blond man hid his eyes  behind a pair of sunglasses, but Louis didn’t miss they way his smile broadened when they stepped out, or the hop in his step when they approached him.

 Louis shared one more look with Liam before following him off the golf cart, it was time to face the music.

 “Hello, boys!” Was the first thing out of Twist’s mouth, almost too chipper to withstand. He held his right hand out, exchanging another round of handshakes with them. “I hope your flight was okay. It can be pretty tiring flying for twelve hours straight. I don’t know how I do it so often.”

 Louis grimaced at him, trying to keep his body language from screaming distaste. He'd just spent 12 hours in a metal box thousands of feet in the air, he didn't want to have to deal with Twist right now. He switched his gaze over at the younger man standing next to him while Liam went on to describe the nap he took throughout the whole flight. He always rambled when he was nervous.

 The thin man grinned at him, sliding his sunglasses up to the blonde hair that glistened almost white in the sunshine, "It’s such an honor to meet you, Dr. Tomlinson. I’m a big fan of your work. Or I guess I should say both of your works.”

 “Thanks, uhh….” Louis responded, trailing off and motioning his hands, hoping the man would get the idea to introduce himself.

 The blonde's eyebrows shot up, the gears turning in his head. “Oh! Sorry about that. Niall,” He reached forward and clasped their hands together, drawing Louis in for another sweaty shake. His thick irish accent buzzing, “Niall Horan."

 Louis looked him up and down, noticing the jean shorts and light t-shirt he wore, much more suitable clothing for this type of weather. Liam strolled up to them to greet Niall, who introduced himself with the same enthusiasm as before. He even went as far as to call them legends. Despite Niall's, bordering on overbearing, positive personality, Louis couldn't help but feel more inclined to be nice to him than he felt about Twist, even if didn’t exactly know who he was just yet.

"Well we should be off now, the island is about fifteen minutes from here, and I want to make sure you have enough time to look around and settle yourselves in before sundown." Twist said as he led them around the helicopter where the side door was open.

They all filed into the aircraft and settled in the four seats. Louis and Liam on one side and Twist and Niall on the other. Luckily, Louis got to sit in front of Niall. Liam seemed to have broken out in a sweat, due to either the heat or sheer nervousness.

 The three men made small talk while Twist answered a call as they waited for the helicopter to start. As they waited patiently Louis found out that Niall's family owned the restaurant they had met Twist at, claiming his family went way back with Twist's. He also learned that Niall was the park's lead engineer, who was in charge of making sure the park would only have smooth sailing once it was open to the public. He lived on the island in the same resort where they would be staying at for their duration, but he had taken a short break from his work to visit his family in Ireland, and was now flying back with them.

 The men had fallen into a comfortable silence after that, the purring of the chopper blades being the only other noise that echoed throughout their ears.

 The island came into view shortly, and Twist was the first to break the silence, “When we land on Isla Nublar, you’ll have some time to get settled into your rooms and rest and whatnot, then if you'd like the both of you can join us for dinner this evening.”

Fantastic. After over half a day's worth of traveling, Louis definitely needed to take a quick catnap. His limbs were aching from not moving about all day, and even though he had dozed off a little on the trip to Costa Rica, the tiredness was still lingering behind his eyelids. He just needed a moment to finally get off his sore bum. He wasn't quite keen on sitting through another dinner with Twist, but he'd deal with that later.

Liam would have danced if they weren’t currently seated in a helicopter over an endless blanket of water. His face conveyed nothing but pure joy as the machine zipped through the air and began it’s descent. His eyes never left the window, and Louis was helplessly endeared as his friend forgot how to remain still. He often reminded Louis of a puppy with the way he seemed to not be able to stop moving when he was excited. It was cute and it elevated some of the tension, but he was still cautious.

“Does he always get like this?” Niall questioned, the same smile from the airport plastered to the lower half of his face. Louis watched as Liam's heavy breathing caused the glass to fog up.

“Yeah.” Louis snapped his fingers in Liam’s face, breaking him of his trance. “He gets like this when he's excited.”

Liam puffed his bottom lip out, causing Louis and Niall to both dissolve into a fit of giggles. He scoffed at them, returning to gaze at the ever nearing landing pad. They were really about to land on the island.

It was a bit rocky, and Twist double checked to make sure everyone was fastened in. The first small lurch the chopper gave had Louis’ stomach in his mouth. He found a hand grip above his head and moved to hold it, shutting his eyes tightly. There was probably no chance they could crash this close, but that didn’t stop his knuckles from whitening as his grip tightened even more when the aircraft gave one final jerk. The helicopter landed easily on the pad, and Louis felt safe enough to open his eyes as soon as he felt the ground beneath them.

He was taken aback when he noticed the three pairs of eyes regarding him curiously. He turned his head to the window, hoping to fight off their stares. He just got a little nervous is all. It’s not like he was going to be sick or anything.

“Are you good now Dr. Tomlinson?” Twist wondered, his eyes almost presenting a moment of worry for him.

He was quick to respond with a “Yep,” when the the blades spurred to a stop and the side door was opened for them. Two men in official Jurassic Park attire (khaki slacks partnered with red polo shirts providing their infamous dinosaur logo on the chest), and ear protectors helped them each out of the helicopter and onto the strip.

The island was like something out of a movie, with stunning greenery surrounding every inch of it. In the distance, Louis could see the slowly setting sun between a gap in a mountain range that seemed to run along the island's interior. Everywhere Louis' eyes landed there was some type of plant life flourishing. The sky was shades of blue and purple, turning orange the closer it reached the gleaming sun. Behind the helicopter pad the rushing waters of a waterfall mixed in with the sounds of humming insects and chirping birds.

 The scenery was nothing short of breathtaking. He actually heard Liam's soft gasp as he stepped out of the helicopter following Niall. Louis breathed in the hot air, the smell of damp grass and sea salt filling his senses.

 "I'm afraid I’m going to have to leave you boys here,” Twist jolted them out of their thoughts, reminding them that they still had places to be. “I have some business to attend to down in the main lobby. The drivers will take you down to the resort and my excellent staff will get you all settled in. You’re in good hands gentlemen.”

And with that, Twist brushed past them and climbed into one of the three beige jeeps that awaited them on the road. Louis, Liam, and Niall were left alone once Twist’s car sped off.

“If you’ll both excuse me, I’ve got to go check on the birdcage.” Niall said it so quick that Louis almost missed it. He slid into the jeep at the same time Louis and Liam gasped,

“The birdcage?”

The blond lad turned back in his seat and smirked at them, like it was some inside joke they weren’t let in on. “Oh, you boys are going to have so much fun here.”

Without another word he faced the front of the car, and zoomed off with a cloud of dust sweeping behind the tires as they spun.

“Yeah I bet.” Louis said as he watched the jeep turn the corner and disappear. The driver of their car seemed impatient as they just stood on the helicopter pad without saying anything, simply taking in their surroundings. He honked, causing Liam to yelp and grip Louis’ arm, who startled all the same.

They both trudged toward the last jeep, Louis muttering a ‘jeez’ under his breath. The driver, Ricardo, gave them a curt nod from the rearview mirror, giving them an emotionless look as he watched the two men settle in their seats.

“Let’s do this.” Louis whispered, more to himself than to Liam, and relaxed as the tires rolled down the gravel. This wind whipped at their faces as Ricardo sped past palm tree after palm tree. They drove past a few sand roads, and in the distance Louis could see a big metallic building glowing under the warm glare of the sun.

 

* * *

 

 Louis and Liam stepped into the air conditioned lobby of Jurassic Resorts. Louis had only been on the island for thirty minutes or so and he was already getting sick of the Twist logo everywhere, from building fronts to trash cans. The block navy lettering would probably be haunting him in his dreams tonight.

The resort was completely empty minus them and the receptionist, which screamed “dead end”  to Louis, and he had to remind himself that the park wasn’t actually open yet. He felt like any moment now a tumbleweed would roll past them as crickets chirped in the distance. Liam started toward the desk, remembering the instructions Ricardo had hastily given them to go up the the front desk and give their names, “Hello, we have rooms for Payne and Tomlinson?”

The receptionist smiled at them as she typed on the computer in front of her, “Yes of course, you’ll both be staying on the fifteenth floor, the top one, in presidential suits.”  

Louis hummed, impressed. He knew that Twist was taking care of their travel and lodging costs, and although he was against being bought, he didn’t quite mind the treatment he’d been given so far. Private jets, luxury cars, and presidential suits weren’t exactly something you complained about. He returned the receptionist’s overjoyed smile as he took the room card she had slid across the counter. She gave them quick directions on how to get there sending them off with another smile and friendly wave. It was like Disney here, everyone was too happy to see you and treated you like you’d never done a wrong deed in your life.

Liam pressed the fifteen button inside the elevator. Louis guessed the building was fairly new for the smell of paint and rubber wafted through the elevator walls as they ascended. The elevator dinged once they reached their floor, the silver door slowly sliding open revealing the brightly lit hall.

They turned a few corners on the level, before stopping in front of two wooden double doors. Louis turned to Liam, pausing all air flow to his lungs as he slide the room key in and pushed past the furnished doors.

The first thing that caught his eye was the tremendous amount of light that sparkled throughout the room. The rays were beaming from the windows that started at the ceiling and ran along the wall all the way to the floor, they overlooked a grand pool, unsurprisingly enough shaped like a stereotypical dinosaur you’d find in a children’s coloring book. Louis wanted to scoff at it’s tackiness but the setup of the pool chairs and in-pool bar made it look sophisticated instead. He may just have to pay it a visit later, even if it did sound a little ridiculous. The image of him, a respected archaeologist, wading in a t-rex shaped pool, was almost laughable.  

They wandered away from the glass and took in the rest of the room. Twist was definitely giving them the best he had to offer, what with the main room of the suite fit with a lounge sofa that looked like it was imported straight from China and other furnishings that had obviously been chosen from the best. Hanging on one of the walls was probably the most futuristic flat screen he’d ever seen, Louis was sure it costs more than anything he owned in his own house.

The walls were a mixture of grey sedimentary rock and what Louis hoped to be fake bones. It was like looking at a dig site after removing most of the dirt to reveal the fossils underneath. He lifted a hand up, brushing it gently over the wall. There was no doubt in his mind that they were real bones.

He was almost mad. Almost. People like them slaved for years discovering fossils like these and doing everything they can to preserve as much as they could, only for rich people like Twist to just use it as a decoration. He honestly wasn’t surprised at this point.

Liam must have sensed his disappointment because his hand landed next to Louis’, “Are these real?” Bewilderment was dripping in his tone as his fingers caught against the edge of what Louis saw was a neck bone.

Louis nodded slowly, his mood slowly sinking. All this luxury and extravagance wasn’t something uncommon for Twist to provide, but this type of exploitation crossed some sort of line Louis had. Twist was just a typical man with too much money burning a hole in his pocket.

He tiredly shrunk away from the wall, dodging a concerned Liam as he made his way through the endless suite until he found one of the rooms. He stopped in front of a door with a tree engraved on the polished wood. He turned the handle and pushed open the door. When it was fully open, he dropped his bag in the doorway by his feet.

The bedroom was stunning. The dimming sun casted a warm glow throughout the room, most of the light landing in the center of the room where the most impressive piece of furniture lay. The king-sized bed was plush looking with pristine white sheets, the various pillows looked like the clouds he'd seen when they’d been flying earlier, and the headboard had the resemblance of a woody piece of oak. It stretched into a wooden trunk, leading to dark branches that extended over the entire wall. It was the most spectacular display he’d seen in a long time. If it wasn’t for the bone walls out in the front, Louis may have actually been enticed by the room.

 The connecting room, which would be Liam’s, had most of the same layout and design, except a smaller queen sized bed. He heard Liam settling about in his room, probably hanging up the four shirts he’d brought and ironing the pair of jeans he brought because that’s just the way he was.

“Hey, Lou,” Liam called, his voice muffled by the wall between them. “I’m gonna hit the showers, get this airplane scent off me, you should too.”

Louis thought a shower sounded great right now. He felt the grime of sitting in a plane for twelve hours crawling against his skin.

He quickly rummaged through the luggage to find a shirt and shorts to switch into, and headed towards the pristine en suite. Saying it was huge was an understatement. The white-tiled room was almost as large as the trailers they used at work.

He scrounged for a towel, finding a few already lined up on the towel rack by the shower. He stripped down and climbed in the shower, pulling the curtain behind him. By the look of it, it was also a jacuzzi tub, something Louis decided he was definitely going to need before the weekend was over.

He turned the water heat all the way up, turning around to let the water spray his back, hoping the pressure and temperature would relax his muscles. There were complimentary bottles of shampoo and conditioner, amazingly enough with the Twist logos on them. Oh capitalism.

He was fast with washing his brown hair and started on soaping up the rest of his small frame. He lathered himself up, rubbing the apple-scented body wash over his chest and down his stomach, pausing when he reached the smattering of hair above his groin. If he really wanted to relax, he could just inch a little lower to take himself in his hand and work himself off of all the tension. 

When was the last time he'd even had a wank? It had to have been at least a few weeks, though he doesn’t recall exactly when and where. He usually came home way too tired from the heat of the dig site for anything more than some tea and television before he passes out in bed. He snorted at the thought of coming all over the expensive tiled walls. They probably cost more than all four walls of Louis' homey flat in Manchester put together. _Yeah, that'll really show Twist,_ he thought.

The water temperature dropped steadily while he contemplated the idea a little longer. _Fuck it,_ he decided, his hand sliding closer to the base of his dick. It would be quick. After all, he needed this if he was going to sit down for another over the top dinner and be forced to make conversation with Twist.   

He sighed at the first touch of his hand, trying to relax under the spray of the cooling water. He kept moving his hand until he was half hard, the water making the slide easier. He was just getting into it when there was a loud knock on the door. 

“Fuck,” Louis cursed as he narrowly escaped hitting his head on the glass door when he whipped it in the direction of the sound.

“Louis, Niall’s called. Dinner is in twenty minutes if you’re up for it.” Liam said it as if he was asking Louis if he wanted to go, when in reality he knew his friend had already confirmed that they would both be there. Too polite for his own good, Liam was.

Louis gave himself a minute to collect his thoughts, standing under a cold spray of water with his half hard dick in his hand. He granted Liam with a response of, “be out in a second,” before removing his hand and rinsing off any soap left on his skin. Luckily all his blood did not rush downwards. He wouldn’t be walking around with an obscene bulge in his pants, so he waited a few moments to let his libido subside before stepping out from under the water.                         

He dried off quickly with a fluffy white towel, no doubt one hundred count thread, and wrapped it around his waist before stepping out into the now darker room, the sun having moved away from his window. A weird sort of settled feeling buzzed through him as he flicked on the lamp sitting on the nightstand. It’s not that he was upset to be here, he was just as curious, maybe even as excited as Liam was to find out what the place had to offer, but couldn’t shake off the grudge he held to Twist and everything he had built on this island. 

He knew he was still being petty. It was hard not to be in their circumstance, even if he had the do good Liam with him at all times. It would just take a while for him to adjust to his surroundings and what his life would soon become. It only took one thought of the fact that this was for the team to get him back into his game mode.

Five minutes later, after changing into one of the more classier shirts and trousers he packed,  Louis and Liam were standing in the descending elevator arguing over what made for disney channel musical was better. 

“You’ve never even seen Teen Beach, you have no say.” Liam shot him an affronted glare, as if Louis had ran over a puppy right in front of his eyes. 

Louis rolled his eyes. He’d seen a fair share of the new stuff disney puts out nowadays, due to his younger sisters of course, and everything, especially a musical that was nothing compared to High School Musical. 

“I don’t need to see it to know it’s nowhere near the cinematic masterpiece that was High School Musical three,” Louis replied with an innocent smile. Liam gave him a face and checked the time on his phone as the elevator came to stop. On Louis’ list of favorite pastimes, riliing Liam up was definitely number one. 

Ricardo was waiting in the jeep when they exited the resort. He greeted them with one of his signature emotionless glances as they climbed into the car. 

“So, Ricardo, are you from Costa Rica then?” Liam asked, trying to fill the silence as they drove on the gravel road.

The man replied with a “Yes,” and then proceeded to turn the radio on, smooth jazz resonating throughout the jeep. Liam pouted at his trial towards conversation falling flat. Louis simply patted his friend on the shoulder consolingly.

They pulled in front of the visitors center just as the blazing sun dimmed in the distance, painting the night sky in hues of purple and blue. Ricardo all but kicked them out, speeding away the second the door was closed again. If he didn’t like them he could’ve just said so. But Louis wasn’t going to fret on behalf of a weird jeep driver when he had other things to think about.

Such as the fact that there was an immense t-rex skeleton staring down at him as he walked into the building. He heard Liam greeting someone next to him, but he just couldn’t take his eyes off the artifact. It was majestic, and looked exactly like the one displayed in the Smithsonian. The one that had made a younger Louis want to become an archaeologist in the first place.

“Dr. Tomlinson are you coming?” An Irish voice called out to him. When he turned he saw Niall and Liam making their way towards a winding staircase that wrapped halfway around the t-rex.

Louis jogged to catch up with them offering Niall a grin as they walked up to the second story. He led them towards the left side, the smell of food growing as they neared the place where they would be eating. Louis had to hand it to the decorators and designers, the place really sold the the main concepts of the park. All sorts of dinosaurs were outlined along the walls, different activity booths leaned against the walls, and a few dinosaur themed gift stores were being stocked as they passed by. If Louis were younger and had just left the Smithsonian for the first time all those years ago, he would have been all over this place. 

Niall led them towards the end of the hall, and into a large, empty room filled with a long black table and even more dinosaur decor. It didn’t stand out as a dining room. By the looks of it, it was just another big office that had been converted for other use.

Overhead there was a stream of light projecting onto the wall, displaying images of what Louis assumed to be the park. He recognized a few of the resort and now this visitors center, but there were also pictures shown of iron fences and electrical wires (Louis had no doubt on what they were for). There was not a single image of a prehistoric creature.

Niall beckoned them to their seats while they waited for Twist, Louis’ bum fitting nicely on the cushioned suede chairs.

An older waiter filled their glasses with wine just as the door handle jiggled. Twist revealed himself after opening the door, looking between the three men with an excited smile.

“Good evening, boys.” He greeted them as he walked around the table towards the seat at the head of it, “Louis, Liam did you enjoy the rooms?”

Louis spoke up, “They were very extravagant. I’m sure a lot of hard work went into creating those walls.”

Twist smiled at him, “I see you noticed. I spent a lot of time convincing many archaeologists around the world to let me use their findings. They caved as soon as I opened my checkbook.”

He finished with a loud belly laugh.

Louis gave him a tight smile as Liam let out a shrilly laugh as well, Niall busy speaking to someone in a Jurassic Park uniform about how he wanted his meat.

Liam was about to add to the conversation when there was a faint knock on the door.

Twist shot up from his spot, turning back to the table. “I forgot to mention, we’ll be joined by a few more guests for the weekend.”

He flung the door to the side, stepping out of the way to allow a fit man with slick back dark hair to enter. He carried a leather briefcase, moving to grab Twist’s hand.

“This is Mr. Ben Winston of the Winston & Winston Attorney Firm.” The three seated men stood to shake the newcomer’s hand. “He’s here representing a simple case and just needs to inspect the park and sign off on it.”

Behind Ben entered another man. When Louis looked in his direction the first thing he saw were dark shaded birds. Again.

This time only one was visible, the other hidden under the fabric of a floral patterned shirt that had only been buttoned up half way.  

Louis nearly choked on his wine at the sight of the familiar boyish face, turning to Liam with wide eyes. “What the hell is Twist’s rent boy doing here?” He leaned over to whisper in Liam’s direction.  

Surely Twist didn’t just fly his _personal consultant_ out from London to do god knows what with him at his dinosaur theme park?

Louis grimaced at the thought, but he wasn’t one to judge, he just assumed Twist would know how to separate his personal affairs with his business ones. But okay, dinner with a rent boy. Louis had no problem with that, his life was already weird anyway. And he wasn’t bad to look at either, so everything seemed okay in Louis’ book.

“And this is Harry,I think you may have met briefly the other day at the office? We didn’t have time for formal introductions then.” Louis drew his eyes up from Harry’s tattooed chest and found that Harry was already looking at him, a grin spread across his face. “He’s going to accompany you on the tour tomorrow as Jurassic Park’s first visitor.”

Well then. Louis took Harry’s outstretched hand in his, giving it a firm shake and trying to not react to the fact that he’d caught him blatantly looking at his chest.

“This is Dr. Louis Tomlinson,” He began introducing the rest of the men at the table. “Dr. Liam Payne, and Harry you already know Niall Horan.”

“Yes I do. Hello doctor,” Harry said, his hand still grasping Louis’. Louis’ eyes widened slightly.

Harry moved on, greeting Liam with his grin still intact. Louis swept a hand through his fringe before sitting back down in his seat. The rest of the men began to do the same thing, and he peered curiously at Harry when he moved to the seat on his right. Twist didn’t seem to care, already deep in conversation with the the lawyer, Mr. Winston.

Once everyone was settled Harry’s gaze found Louis’ once more. “I was so excited when my granddad hired you,” he began, “I mean, when he hired both of you. You and Dr. Payne. I’ve been following your work for a few years now. It's truly incredible."

That didn’t make sense. The granddad part, not the credibility of their work. Obviously what they did was nothing short of spectacular. But it was Harry explaining that his granddad hired them that made him cock his head in confusion.

"Wait, who is your grandfather?" He blurted.

This time it was Harry's face that fell in confusion. His eyebrows furrowed, "Um, Edward Twist?"

Louis fought the urge to slap himself on the forehead, breathing out an "Oh my god."

Twist was Harry's granddad. That made so much more sense. Wow.

He heard Liam snort on his left, Louis lifted his hand to hit his shoulder, not taking his eyes of Harry's confused expression.

"Why- wait who did you think I was then?"

Louis blinked at him. He was such an idiot, reading everything wrong between them. Of course they acted the way they did towards each other, they were family.

Heat crawled up his skin, and Louis ducked his head down to hide the blush forming at his response.  

"Uh. I thought you were Twist's friend?" He said, rubbing his burning ear as he tried to sound convincing.

Harry smiled through his confusion, about to respond when Liam butted in,

"He thought you were his rent boy."

Louis squawked, trying to hit Liam in the shoulder again, but he caught Louis by the wrist before he could. "What Liam means-" he began, prying his wrist out of Liam's grasp.

"You thought I was a rent boy? For my grandfather?" Harry barked, slapping a hand over his mouth as a spew of giggles fell out.

Luckily, as Louis looked around the table, no one beside the three men had heard their conversation, the others at the table were ordering their food. He was silently praying that he didn’t offend Harry, while also wishing that god would strike him with lightning to get him out of this embarrassing situation.

"Maybe? I mean, you weren't exactly _you know."_ One look at Harry's amused face told him that he did not in fact know.

"You were wearing a lace shirt." Louis said, hoping he wasn’t crossing the line, waving his hand at Harry's upper body for emphasis. “Not exactly business attire.”

Harry raised his eyebrows at that, another laugh leaving his lips. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to judge a book by its cover? For all you know, I could be the next CEO of Twist Corporations." Louis opened and closed his mouth at those words. "I could be your boss."

Harry's eyes swept down and up once before he grinned brightly at Louis, a crater of a dimple forming to the right of his lips.

“I’m sorry if I offended you in anyway Mr. Twist, I wasn’t thinking clearly.” Louis fixed the fringe of his hair, looking up at Harry from under it.

Harry smiled again, “You didn’t offend me Dr. Tomlinson. I just thought it was funny. And my name is Styles, not Twist. But please, feel free to call me Harry.”

“Okay Harry,” Louis felt the blush creep up on him again as his name rolled off his tongue. “If we’re going to be on a first name basis, you can just call me Louis.”

There was something about the look Harry gave him that sent a flutter in his abdomen. “What a shame,” he whispered, tilting his lips towards Louis’ ear. “Dr. Tomlinson sounded a lot sexier.”

Louis was stunned into silence, the boy next to him shifting back into his seat. That…. didn’t just happen. There was no way the grandson of Edward Twist just used a line on him, right?

The twitch in his pants seemed to prove otherwise. He really should have had that wank.

Now that Louis was looking at Twist’s grandson and not his escort, he allowed himself to get a good look at him. As Harry turned his head away to order his food, Louis discreetly took in his appearance. His eyes moved from the side of his face down the ivory skin of his throat, passed the swallows that peeked from the opening of his shirt, and down to his thighs clad in dark fabric that looked almost painted on.

Louis was right when he said he wasn't bad to look at, and he also seemed like a shameless flirt. Louis wasn't sure whether to be hostile towards him for his relation to Twist or to flirt back.

Louis was taken out of his thoughts by the clearing of a throat from above him. It was the person taking orders, "What would you like to eat tonight, sir?" He brandished a menu towards Louis, who took it and read out the first thing his eyes landed on.

"I'll have the chicken wrapped in parma ham, if you don't mind." He replied, handing the menu back to them.

"Of course not, sir. Will that be all?" Louis gave them a noise of confirmation before turning back towards Harry.

"We're twins." Was the first thing out of Harry’s mouth once the waiter walked away.

What. "What?"

"You ordered the same thing as me." Harry said as he fiddled with the silverware in front of him.

"Really? I didn't even notice." Louis fixed his fringe for the third time, if he did it one more he was going to have to sit on his hands.

"Hm, we must be soul mates, then." Harry hummed as his right arm reached out towards Louis.

"What are you-?" Louis began as Harry's fingers pushed Louis' fringe back from where it lay on his forehead. His words caught in his throat, and for a split second he forgot how to breathe. The guy obviously had no concept of personal space, not that Louis was really complaining, it just seemed a bit premature considering they were just officially introduced. 

"You keep messing with your hair, it's getting on my nerves, you know." He said, trying to pull his face into a stern expression, the twitching at the corner of lips gave him away though.

Louis stared incredulously at Harry, who just broke into laughter when their eyes met again. 

"I thought my hair looked fine, thank you." Louis said, looking up he caught Niall's knowing stare and narrowed his eyes.

Their conversation was halted as Twist lifted his glass up, "I propose a toast,"

Louis leaned back in his seat, just realizing how close he had been leaning in Harry's direction.

"Here’s to all of you for agreeing to give this place a chance, hopefully with your help the park will have the summer opening I've been dreaming of."  

Louis reluctantly raised his glass in Twist's direction, before bringing it to his mouth. Before he could, Harry swung his own glass towards his and bumped the rims together, winking at him as he tipped his head back and drank the red wine.

He almost inhaled the liquid through his nose when he brought the glass to his lips, the visual of Harry's throat working down the wine was obscene.

No, he had to stop himself. He had dignity, and he wasn’t some creep who was going to turn everything this stranger did into something sexual. He didn’t need it. And his dick didn’t need it either.

"Yes, let's hope you can help this park and not turn it into a worldwide safety hazard." Ben spoke up for the first time since they'd all sat down.

Louis could hear Liam's jaw drop, the tone Ben had used was probably foreign to his sheltered ears.

"Oh c'mon Ben, don’t be a negative Nancy," Twist said as the waiter refilled his glass. “This park is safer than the white house during an air raid.”

Ben smiled wryly at that, "Right, so how do you explain the accident from last month?"

 Louis’ mouth went dry. Twist never mentioned any accident to them. His lips parted, but Liam asked what he was going to before he even got a word out. “What kind of accident?”

“There was a ra-”

“It’s really not a big thing,” Twist raised his voice above Ben’s to silence him. It immediately put worry in Louis’ gut. “Some of the workers were transporting one of the animals, but they were being reckless and messed up on it’s containment. It ended up escaping.” Nervousness filled the room, Twist scrambling to ease it down, “We have an amazing expert who got it under control, but  unfortunately not before it injured one of the workers.”

Ben scoffed next to him, eyes flying towards his incredulous expression. “Injured, Edward? You mean killed. The animal _killed_ one of your workers. That’s why I’m here in the first place.”

Louis felt goosebumps rise on his arms. Liam inhaled sharply, which was followed by a similar reaction from Harry on his other side.

"Someone was killed?" Harry exclaimed, his smug expression from before replaced with one of horror. “You never told me that.”

Twist looked way too calm for a man who had a death on his hands. “I didn’t want to alarm you.”

"God, this doesn't surprise me at all. I told you, man and dinosaurs were never meant to live together. There's a reason they were killed by an asteroid 65 million years ago," Harry continued heatedly.

Louis sat frozen as he watched the exchange between the two. He had assumed Harry would have the same ideals as Twist, apparently he was wrong. He wondered if Twist had left out that detail so they'd be more inclined to take his job offer, too. He felt sick to his stomach.

Twist looked between Louis and Liam to gauge their expressions, "Boys, I hope you don't feel too differently about the park now that you've heard this."

"To be honest with you Mr. Twist, you had to know what our initial thoughts, as a paleontologist and paleobotanist, about this park were." Louis inquired, his head to mouth filter not doing its job.

Twist was puzzled, gulping harshly while staring at Louis like he just punched him. “No, Dr. Tomlinson I can’t say that I did. But I would love to hear your thoughts. I do pride myself in taking criticism.”

Louis looked at Liam, trying to find some backup in what he was about to say. Liam gave him a supportive nod that quelled the unease fluttering in his stomach.

"Well, for one thing, this park stripped all archaeologists of their jobs. Our profession might as well be extinct when it's placed next to your park. It's why I asked you to find my team jobs before agreeing to work for you." Louis watched at Twist's eyebrows raised, taking in what he had just heard.

He continued, "and secondly, this park kind of goes against our morals. The concept of bringing dinosaurs back from the dead devalues our practice of uncovering their past from the Earth's hold. We spend months slaving away out in the sun unearthing bones and analyzing them to create a clearer past, just so you and your scientists can walk in and claim you've found the future."

Louis finished with deep sigh as he leaned back in his seat. All five pairs of eyes staring at him.

"And, um.." He cleared his throat, "I'm sure the ticket prices will be very inflated."

Louis watched as a slow grin stretched across Twist’s aging face. The grin turned into a laugh, "Well people are coming to see living, breathing dinosaurs, not a man dressed in a mouse suit." He squinted in Liam’s direction after ceasing his chuckles. “Dr. Payne, you were eager to have our meeting and take this job. If anyone can appreciate what we’re doing here, it has to be you.”

Yes, Liam was oddly interested in all the offers from Twist, but he still had a fully functioning moral compass that Twist seemed not to possess. Louis hoped his best friend would say the right thing.

"Mr. Twist, with all due respect, the park you've created is extraordinary. But I'm afraid I don't agree with everything about it. Like Harry said, dinosaurs were extinct a very long time before the first man walked on Earth, and maybe that was for a reason. We don't know what will happen when two species that have been separated by time are forced to coexist."

Louis exhaled a relieved breath. Now that they were coerced into sharing how they really felt Twist’s erratic playground, he had no idea what it meant for them. There was no telling what Twist would do; he would probably strip them and their team of their jobs and force them to leave first thing in the morning. If they blew it they were in deep shit.

Twist nodded thoughtfully at Liam's speech. He set his glass down and scratched the white hairs on his chin, gathering his thoughts.

"You know what, I think this park is sick. Bringing back dinosaurs from the dead is probably the peak of scientific discovery, this beats literally everything." Niall's voice interrupted the tense silence.

Twist's thoughtful expression switched to a delighted one.

"But," Niall kept going, "Some of the stuff you two just said makes a lot of sense. And yes there have been a few accidents. But we have the best crew here, including meself, and we are highly trained to make sure things like that don’t happen again."

“Niall, Niall, Niall,” Twist laughed, rubbing the back of his shoulder playfully. “You always come through for me and this park, that’s why I keep you around. That and so the chances of us getting eaten everyday decreases.

They both giggled into their glasses, sharing a look like they were the best of friends. It did nothing to assure Louis that the park was safe, even if there weren’t any wild animals roaming freely and attacking anything that moved at the moment (as they knew of).

Twist composed himself, taking a few calculating breaths as he figured out what to say from there. He motioned to Louis, “Dr. Tomlinson, what does this mean for you then? For the both of you? You can leave if you feel so strongly about what I’ve done here, I’m not going to force you to be here. Or, you can stay and let the park convince you itself that it will be the most important creation in all of history.”

There really wasn’t a choice, was there? At least, not for Louis. Yes, he hated the park, and everything Twist stood for. But, what’s done is done. They can’t uncreate the dinosaurs, and the thought of killing them (like some activists wanted to do to fix the problem) was inhumane. They were there for a reason, to help the animals (among the others).

“Mr. Twist,” Louis started, feeling the weight of five pairs of eyes on him in an instant. “I still stand by what has been said. You are a determined man, and you’ll get this park up and running no matter what we say in our defense against it. The animals are going to have to live the rest of their lives here no matter what. I want to at least make sure they live good ones.”

Liam nodded on his left, reaching over to pat his shoulder. He knew they were on the same page, after all, Liam was very interested in discovering which plant was causing some of the animals to fall ill. He gave Twist a quiet, “mhm.”

Twist clapped his hands once, the previous emotionless expression on his face replaced with one of joy. He honestly looked more intimidating when he displayed a happy demeanor. “I knew hiring you was the right choice, Dr. Tomlinson. They told me to look into someone older, more qualified with years of experience behind them. They said a twenty-nine year old wouldn’t be able to handle everything. But you’ll prove them wrong.”

"Yeah, I'm sure he will too," Harry leaned forward in his seat to catch Louis' gaze. When Louis met it he was faced with a bright-eyed Harry smiling shyly at him. Louis gave him a curious look in return with a soft murmur of, "thank you."

The rest of the dinner was more subdued, the conversation moved away from any controversial topics. The men all ate they gourmet food and Louis’ glass seemed to never be short of any wine.

That outcome of that was Louis feeling close to the brink of tipsy by the time they were all filing out of the visitors center and back out into the humid air. Liam began walking towards their jeep, Ricardo staring at them from behind the glass.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then, doctor?” Harry’s hand landed on Louis’ elbow as he turned to follow Liam. “I’m sure the tour will be even better with a dinosaur expert,” he added, the smug expression returning from earlier.

“Okay Harry, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Louis responded, an amused grin on his face.

“I’m already looking forward to it.” With one last blinding smile and a wave, Harry was off, climbing into the back seat of a separate jeep. Louis shook his head and turned around to find Ricardo and Liam staring at him, one with an emotionless expression like always and the other with a knowing one.

* * *

 

**_Earlier that day._ **

 

Jurassic Park was separated into four main sectors. It began with the visitors center, which loomed over the front of the island, nestled between the base of the unruly mountains. The next section was located farther towards the east, and it was the extravagant resort. The actual park itself stretched out over half of the island, miles and miles of paddocks forming the third sector. The last, and maybe most important, sector was the area that housed the control center.

The workers made it their mission everyday to monitor all activities of the island. They were each carefully hand picked by Twist himself, making sure they each possessed the highest levels of qualifications for the job. Only the finest in the industry were offered a an opportunity to work in the Jurassic Park control room.

“Jeff, status report for the week, please,” said the executive supervisor, Nick.

Jeff went to type on his keyboard, opening up the files that contained the detailed entries from throughout the week. There were only a few missteps or faulty technicalities that had been entered. He read them out quickly, summarizing each day into one of two sentences.

“The doors of the visitors center shorted out on Monday. There were a few wires that needed to be replaced in the control panels. Oh, and um, throughout the week some of the fences have lost power for a few minutes at a time, again. Nothing to worry about, Horan’s team has been working on the paneling on them this week and I’ve been rewriting some of the codes in here to fix the bugs so it doesn’t happen again..”

Nick fumed, taking a moment to sort his thoughts before speaking to his coworker, “Does Twist know about this?” He sipped from the coffee cup he held, cringing as the bitter taste hit the back of his throat.

Jeff shook his head, “No, Mr. Twist has been out all day preparing for the visitors. We haven’t had time to inform him, plus it’s being taken care of.”  

“Okay,” Nick groaned, hoping the fate of the park wasn’t going to be jeopardized yet again. This was the second time this problem had popped up in the last month. Then, a thought occurred to him. “What about tomorrow? Mr. Twist’s guests will be taking the tour in the morning, will it be fixed by then?”

There was a hint of fear in his voice, one that he frequently felt in his position as lead supervisor.

“Maybe. There’s no way to tell. It takes time to fix the many codes we’ve used. The power to the fences might flick on and off during the day, but not for long enough periods of time for anything to happen. I’ve got it under control. Nothing to worry about.” The man at the computer reassured.

“Nothing to worry about.” Nick repeated, tracing his eyes over the monitor that spread across the front of the room. The park was fully functional and safe. And it was going to stay that way. A little hiccup in the power wasn’t anything too serious, and after all, they had the best workers in the world to take care of it.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for all your lovely comments and kudos!! 
> 
> These first two chapters are mostly to fit in some backstory, we'll get to the real action by the next one dont worry !!
> 
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	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey it's us we're back and still alive don't worry !! Sorry it took so long for this update but we made it up to you by making it the longest chapter so far :))) always come hit us up @  
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Louis woke up to the sound of the shower running and muffled singing coming from the other side of the wall. As he came to, he noticed the layers of blankets he had wrapped around himself. Last night the AC had been turned down to 15 because Liam was a freak who could only sleep when he was on the brink of pneumonia. But by morning it seemed Liam could survive in normal temperatures, leaving Louis sweating under the crisp white cocoon of sheets and comforter.  
  
He shrugged off the sheets, pushing them down so that they rested over his torso. Checking his phone on the nightstand, he noted the time read 9:00, giving them an hour before they had to begin the first leg of their tour. Twist explained last night at dinner that they would be given complete access to the laboratories and all work, allowing them to see where all the “magic” happened.    
  
Then after, they would move on to the actual tour, the one real visitors would get to experience when the park opened in the summer, and sometime after they were to be shown the control room, and consult with the park “supervisors” (as Twist called them). Today, they would be viewing the creatures Liam and he had spent years studying and removing from the earth. They were going to be up close with actual, real life dinosaurs. Louis hadn’t been this nervous in a while.  
  
This whole trip had been leading up to this moment. He didn’t give himself a chance to really think about it, in all honesty. He’d been too busy despising Twist and dreading coming here in the first place. He sort of tried to forget why they were really there, but now that the rest of the day loomed over head, there wasn’t anything he could do to stop his nerves from getting to him.  
  
Because, even though Twist had been a big name for a while, and it had been years since he first announced his scientists brought a species back from the dead, he had yet to see it himself. No images ever seemed to circulate surrounding what was going on at the park, causing a lot of people to still be disbelievers. Louis knew that it all had to be real, there was no way Twist would spend so much money on one big charade. But there was still a little sliver of doubt that ran through his veins, and today was the day he would be made a true believer (even though he already 98% believed in Twist’s work).  
  
Louis laid there under the scorching feel of the sheets, listening to the shower turn off and the rummaging going on in the bathroom next door. He felt his phone vibrate in his hand and lifted it up over his face to see what it was.  
  
He had a gotten a text from an unknown number saying, “Morning ! just been told who is going to be your guide today you lads r going to hav fun !!”  
  
He also noticed that he’d been put in a group chat with Liam and the number. Louis narrowed his eyes at the text; he wondered why their guide would be reason for them having fun. Hopefully it wasn’t Twist himself, Louis had spent enough time around the man in the last twenty-four hours he needed some sort of a break.  
  
Liam decided that moment to barge into his room in nothing but a white towel hanging off his hips.  
  
“Did you give Niall my number?” At least that was who Louis guessed it was. Who else would be awake enough at 9 am on a Saturday to use an excessive amount of exclamation points in their texts?  
  
“Oh yeah, did I forget to tell you that?” Liam replied passively as he made his way across Louis’ room toward their shared suitcase. Louis had unceremoniously dropped it near the window when they had first arrived at the rooms.  
  
Louis nodded in affirmation and hopped off the bed walking towards the suitcase as well. His foot landed next to the small puddle Liam had started to form from his dripping hair as he zipped open the suitcase. He poked Liam in his shoulder until he had finished picking out his clothes and then moved to take his spot, sorting through the three shirts and two pairs of shorts he had packed for the trip. He was never one to make a big deal about what he wore, too used to the uniform he wore most days. But, Louis remembered Harry’s gaze seemingly checking him out the past night  and suddenly dressing for the day felt nerve wracking.  
  
He didn’t know why he was suddenly thinking like this, dressing for someone else was never something he had worried about before. Besides, Louis knew he was fairly attractive and didn’t need to worry too much about what he wore. But Harry, he was way more than just fairly attractive. He was on a whole new level of appeal.  
  
Louis gave a deep sigh before picking up the closest shirt and the shorts he knew looked best on him. He padded over to the bathroom and began getting ready for the day.

                                                                           

* * *

  
  
Zayn gave Niall’s grinning expression an unimpressed look, flicking him off just as the jeep zoomed away, the sounds of Niall’s cackles floating in the air along with a cloud of dust and dirt. For some odd reason Zayn had been chosen as the tour guide for the park’s visitors. Apparently Twist had invited two well known archaeologists to work at the park and were due any minute in front of the visitor’s center for a tour.  
  
It wasn’t exactly how he planned for his day to go. And it wasn’t exactly something he had the time for. The raptors had gotten restless the past week, cooped up in their containment area. This had caused them to display even greater signs of aggression. The girls were attacking the fences every time the feeders got close to them, they were fighting with each other worse than ever (not resting until blood was shed), and they were only getting a few hours of sleep a night.  
  
They were also showing signs of the mysterious disease that had engulfed the island these past months, showing discoloration on their necks and barely eating, due to the gastric problems.  
  
And to top it all off, Grimshaw had informed him a few days previous that there was a bug in the fences causing them to zap off for a few seconds at a time throughout the day. He assured Zayn that the raptor fences were unaffected, but there was still no way he was going to relax at the news. Even if it wasn’t a big threat, there was still a small chance that something could go wrong. And they couldn’t afford anymore accidents. Not after the last one. The raptors were getting more and more intelligent by the day, so if the fences were affected by the bugs in anyway shape or form, the girls would catch on. And Zayn didn’t want to think about what would happen if they did.  
  
He desperately needed this time to talk with Twist to figure out the course of action that needed to be taken to help the raptors. They needed more leg room, they needed to find which plants were causing the animals to fall ill, and most importantly they had to fix the problems with the security system.  
  
Grimshaw told him it was under control, but still, there were so many other things that could sacrifice what they had going.  
  
“Salaam, and welcome to Jurassic Park,” Zayn drawled out almost monotonously. He assessed the four men in front of him. “I’m Zayn Malik,” he said, tugging on the ID card clipped to his vest. “And I’m going to be showing you around today.”  
  
So these were the people he was supposed to drag around the park all day. A taller man carrying a briefcase, no doubt the lawyer Twist told him was assigned to the case over the accident he witnessed, stood at the end of the row. Next to him stood a handsome, younger man with shoulder length curls, who Zayn recognized as Twist’s grandson, seeing a family photo with him many times he’s been called into Twist’s office back in London. The other two Zayn guessed to be the paleontologists, who were much younger than what he had expected; one was a man slightly smaller than the rest with noticeable cheekbones and a head of messy brown fringe. The second paleontologist was- eye-catching. His burly look was enticing, and Zayn caught himself absorbed in the man’s whiskey-tinted brown eyes for a moment before remembering what he was there for.  
  
Zayn cleared his throat forcing himself to look away from the second paleontologist.  
  
Twist's grandson was the first to step forward, his hand outstretched, "Harry Styles, it's nice to meet you."  
  
Zayn gave him a closed lipped smile returning the gesture. He got a friendly vibe from Harry, it contrasted harshly from Twist who was always this intimidating figurehead of a boss in his mind. Harry moved aside as the lawyer, who Zayn learned was Ben Winston, introduced himself.  
  
The shortest paleontologist walked up shortly after and shook his hand, "Louis Tomlinson,"  
  
Ah, so that’s who he was. Zayn had heard his name mentioned among the park workers. He's apparently some worldwide celebrity in the archaeologist world, him and his work partner, Dr. Paige? There was absolutely no time to turn on a news station for him. Honestly he should be paying more attention to the gossip around here.  
  
Finally the last one left was Paige, he gave Zayn a friendly smile grasping his hand in his and giving it a firm shake.  
  
"Liam. Liam Payne."  Whoops. Paige, Payne, he was close enough.  
  
Zayn tried to ignore his immediate reaction to being stared intensely by the man, which was to blush. He cooly shook Liam's hand and returned his friendly expression, trying not to look to manic about it. Last thing he needed was a not so ugly paleontologist thinking he was crazy.  
  
Once all introductions were finished Zayn turned to focus his attention to the entire group, somewhat unsure on how to proceed. He’d never actually given a tour before, he’d learned to map out the park by how often he walked around by himself muttering nonsense into walkie talkies.  
  
He adjusted the red bandanna tied around his neck before beginning, “Mr. Twist wants me to inform you that he will not be joining us on the tour. Though he says we’ll meet him briefly in the control room. He has many things to oversee today so he’ll be there most of the time.”  
  
Zayn walked past the group, motioning that they should follow him. Liam walked closest to him, turning his head to face him with a bright look in his eye, "So, are you the main tour guide here then?"  
  
Zayn almost wanted to scoff at the suggestion, him a tour guide? Zayn would never expose himself to that kind of torturesome career.  
  
"No actually, I'm a raptor specialist," Zayn watched as Liam's eyes widened, awe taking over his features.  
  
"Really? So you work with raptors everyday, how are they like? Are they really that intelligent?" Zayn wanted to lean back as Liam leaned forward questions falling out of his mouth in a rapid stream of inquiry.  
  
“How fast are they? Do they really work in packs?” Liam continued, suddenly a thought popped into his head, peaking his curiosity. “Where are you keeping them? They’re being properly contained, right?” He finished, a flash of fear struck his face.  
  
Zayn couldn’t help but be a little endeared by all the rampant questions the doctor was throwing at him. Luckily for them, the raptor cages were going to be the last stop on the tour.  
  
 “Not to worry, Dr. Payne,” he chuckled at the name, “they are in a stable containment facility, hardly a threat to anyone while they're behind those fences. You’ll be able to see it later on. I’m sure it’ll pass your inspections.” He offered him a wink, staggering past the doctor to lead the group to the classic ‘Jurassic Park’ jeep waiting for them.  
  
Soon enough their small group had clambered into one of the larger jeeps they kept at the park. Zayn settled himself in the driver's seat, Liam opening the door next to him and joining him in the front. Behind them sat Dr. Tomlinson and Harry, who both sat closer to each other than was necessary given that the car was rather spacious. And behind that pair sat the lawyer, who seemed rather disgruntled at being isolated from the rest of the group.  
  
Zayn pulled out of the visitor's center entrance, his eyes flickering towards Liam before steeling himself and maneuvering onto the park's main road.  
  
The only sounds that filled the car during the ride were the hushed voices from the back of Harry and Dr. Tomlinson. The trip was a short one and soon enough they were pulling up in front of the main hall of Twist Laboratories.  
  
"So, I was told to tell you about the history behind these labs, but I rather not bore you. I'm sure you really just want to see what's inside the building." Zayn said as he put the jeep in park and pulled out the key, the engine shutting off and locks clicking to open.  
  
                                                                                                                                  

* * *

  
  
Louis stepped through the sliding doors, feeling a gust of air as the group entered the air conditioned building. It was slightly smaller than the visitor's center, but definitely grand enough to accommodate all the technology required to control the developments of the park.  
  
The first sight they got was a basic almost lobby-esque room as they walked in, before being led down a flight of stairs by their guide, Zayn.  
  
Louis didn’t know what to think of Zayn just yet. He got the feeling that the man had been roped into giving the tour today, especially since he was the raptor expert. Louis didn’t find it plausible for him to have willingly signed up for the task. Other than that, Zayn seemed really calm, although that might’ve been caused more by boredom than anything else.  
  
There were so many things he wanted to ask him about concerning the raptors, but it seemed Liam had already beaten him to the punch. They were currently walking ahead of the other three, Liam gesticulating wildly and Zayn nodding along. He, Harry, and the lawyer were silently following.  
  
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, nearing a set of metal doors with a security code lock, Louis felt a hand on his shoulder.  
  
“My granddad said the labs were really cool, he didn’t want to tell me a lot this morning. I think I was annoying him with my questions,” Harry leaned down to tell him from where he stood one step behind.  
  
Louis could hear the excitement in his voice, it was horribly endearing. He tried not to focus too much on the solid warmth radiating from Harry’s hand before replying, “I’m sure you were.”  
  
Louis said it in a playful tone but it still caused him to make an affronted sound and nudge against Louis’ shoulder. He hadn’t been able to figure the guy out since their dinner last night. Harry was an interesting character for sure, blatantly flirting with him every chance he got. They were seated next to each other in the back seat of the jeep (as well as with Ben), and Harry kept pointing out the window identifying different types of grasses as they zoomed past them. It was odd, until Louis learned that Harry minored in turfgrass science during uni, along with a major in wildlife conservation. Overall he was a weird guy who wore lace shirts, liked grass, and had birds tattooed on his chest.  
  
Louis shouldn’t be attracted to him, yet it seemed he was doomed. Not that he was going to do anything about it of course. Harry was just a cheeky and aesthetically pleasing man. One he had known for less than 24 hours, and despite the conversations they'd already had it didn't change the fact that the two men were still basically strangers. Plus he was the grandson of his boss (kinda), and that just screamed all sorts of inappropriate, even if there wasn't really anything between them. Really.  
  
Zayn stopped at the end of the stairs and turned to group, pulling out a set of keys that were attached to his belt, "Ok," he clasped his hands together, beginning to resemble an actual tour guide, "we're about to enter the lab."  
  
Louis felt a weird sort of anticipation settled in his bones. He was about to find out just how these scientists were bringing the species that fascinated him the most back to life.  
  
"I've only been here a couple of times, it's not really my type of setting," Zayn continued, wrinkling his nose. Liam let out a loud laugh but covered it up with a cough when four heads turned to him in alarm. Louis almost snorted at how fast his ears were able to turn a harsh red.  
  
"Uh, Twist asked me to advise you not to touch anything inside the labs, and I would listen to him if you don't want to face a multi-million lawsuit, should anything go wrong during your visit." Mr. Winston who had been standing behind Louis and Harry scoffed at that. Zayn decidedly ignored him and turned away from the group, holding up a card to be scanned by a security system that was bolted to the wall next to the door.  
  
The whole process seemed so sci-fi movie-esque Louis had a hard time letting the reality of it sink in. It wasn't as if he had much time for that anyway, because once the door was clicking unlocked Zayn swiftly pushed it open and strode into the room. The group was quick to follow.  
  
The first thing he noted as they stepped through the white door frame was the familiar smell of latex and bleach. It’s a very unpleasant combination of aromas when mixed together, forcing Louis to scrunch his nose for a moment before he slowly got used to the smell. It’s nothing new to them, seeing as they practically lived in research labs during uni and many times after a successful dig.  
  
Liam breathed out a soft, “Wow,” in front of him, and Louis traces his eyes slowly across the room, not wanting to miss a single detail. He heard Zayn talking in the background, but tuned it out as he assessed the lab.  
  
The expansive room was probably as large as the lobby of the visitors center, if not bigger. There were multiple arrays of high tech computers, as wells as other machines he’d never seen in real life. He could decipher a few of the bulky ones as gene splicers, but some were unrecognizable, even to him. Which was understandable, considering they never worked with dna codes or ever left the rocks of their sites.  
  
The room was a boring shade of white, and everything seemed like it had been wiped down and cleaned more than was actually necessary. He wondered how anyone actually got any work done in the place.  
  
He counted ten tables, compiled full of state of the art microscopes, beakers, test tubes, the whole lot. He thought for just a moment about exactly how much it cost to get the lab up and running and to continue it’s work now, considering there were many machines in here that each cost well more than what he made in a single year.  
  
There were at least thirty people in lab coats and goggles bustling about the space, a few crowding close to their group as they moved past, forcing Louis to jump out of the way or be hit face first with a container of live frogs. Which was…weird. Of all things he thought he’d see in an illustrious dinosaur tech lab, frogs would be the last thing.  
  
He only registered that Zayn was still speaking to the group when his name got called out, “Isn’t that right Dr. Tomlinson?”  
  
“Huh?” Louis was moved from his own thoughts, not even subtle when he continued, “So sorry Zaynie, I wasn’t listening.”  
  
“I know,” was all Zayn replied, at the same time Liam saw it fit to jut his elbow behind him and hit Louis in the stomach. Honestly, he needed to do something about Liam’s bloody arms before he ended up rupturing something important. He was too fragile to be handled this way by his so-called best friend. Which was exactly what he whispered in Liam’s ear a second later, making sure to emphasize his words so that a few drops of spit lodged their way onto the side of his face.  
  
It almost earned him another jab to the side, but Louis was quick to bounce out of the way, right into a giggling Harry Styles, who stuck his pointer finger out and moved it in Zayn’s direction, who was glaring at him with an obvious hint of annoyance.  
  
“Sorry,” Liam was quick to apologize, as if he had just stepped on a puppy. “Please, continue.”  
  
“Gladly.” Zayn muttered, clearly not so glad when he carried on the tour.  
  
He motioned for them to follow while he stepped down a few steps, leading to another side of the room that was elevated lower than the rest. There wasn’t much to this part of the lab, aside from what looked like a translucent dome resting on a table, lights around illuminating the glass. It almost looked like an enlarged terrarium.  
  
Two scientists suddenly entered from a side door Louis nearly overlooked that said “RESTRICTED” in bold, red letters. They were two women, donning the traditional white lab coats with work attire and sleek heels, their long chestnut locks pulled back into short buns on top of their heads.  
  
The shorter of the two carried a clipboard and pen, jotting notes down as the taller woman relayed them to her. Their heels clacked against the tiles, and only came to a stop when Zayn cleared his throat.  
  
“Good morning ladies,” He began, clapping his hands together when their attention turned to him in unison. He turned to the men standing behind him, “Let me introduce two of the head technicians at Jurassic Park.”  
  
“Dr. Calder, Head of Genetic Specialization,” he commenced, directing the attention to the taller scientist, who gave a small wave with the flick of her wrist. Zayn moved to the second woman, “And this is Dr. Smith, our Research and Development Director. Everything you’ll be seeing today is because of them, and their hard work and dedication.”  
  
“Thank you, Malik.” Dr. Calder spoke eloquently.  
  
To finish off the other half of the introductions, he went in order, extending a hand in front of each man as he introduced them, “This is Dr. Tomlinson and Dr. Payne, whom I’m sure you're both familiar with,” waiting a beat for hands to shake before continuing. “This is Mr. Winston, the esteemed lawyer for you know what,” he gritted through his teeth, doing his best to seem comfortable (even though Louis could tell he was not about the man/situation). “And finally,” he finished, moving to Harry, “This is Harry Styles, grandson of our dear owner.”  
  
Harry was a perfect gentleman as he grinned at the two, clasping each of their hands gently with his. “I wish granddad told me he had actual goddesses working for him. I would have taken a tour a lot earlier.”  
  
The doctors just rolled their eyes at him, though they weren’t seriously upset as they both kept a small smile on their lips.  
  
“Your granddad warned us about you, Mr. Styles. “ Dr. Calder huffed playfully, turning her back and walking towards the terrarium across the way. “Said you were very cheeky.”  
  
Which okay, is understandable, since both women were very pleasing to the eye, but gave Louis a weird feeling because wasn’t Harry just flirting with him last night and a bit of this morning?  
  
“I do aim to please,” Harry said in retort, drawing out the word and biting his lip in the most seductive way possible. Louis’ eyebrows shot up, and he tore his eyes away because he was not going to let himself be affected by this teasing creature. And he definitely was not jealous. Nope.  
  
After the air was settled, Zayn cleared his throat once more, tilting his dark head towards Harry. “Okay Casanova, settle down.” Harry only shrugged and stood with his hands behind his back.  
  
Ben, who had lacked a voice so far as they entered the lab, made eye contact with Zayn, sharing a silent conversation with him that no one else was subject to. Zayn understood though, when Ben nodded his head and signaled Zayn over with the hand that wasn’t holding a briefcase.  
  
“Right,” Zayn stuttered, his voice suddenly dry. The rest of the group looked as confused as ever, and he gave a tug to the red bandanna around his neck. “While Mr. Winston and I talk for a bit, Dr. Calder and Smith will be able to answer any questions you have. Um, feel free to explore the lab, just don’t get in the way and don’t touch anything.”  
  
And with that, he and Ben climbed back up the steps and turned a corner, before their bodies disappeared through the doors they originally came in from.  
  
Louis didn’t want to think about the accident, which they were undoubtedly talking about, so instead he chose to walk up to the dome where Dr. Calder was. Liam followed close behind, and Harry inevitably after.  
  
“What do you think, Dr. Tomlinson?” Dr. Calder asked as he leaned over to peer through the glass. It wasn’t clear before, but now that he could really see, it wasn’t just some big terrarium. It was lightly heated from the lamps surrounding it, and it contained dozens of ovular rocks, which he realized after a moment, were not rocks.  
  
“Holy shit,” Liam’s breath was hot down his neck as he hovered over him. “Are those..”  
  
“Eggs,” Louis finished for him, the disbelief evident in his voice, even though he was looking right at them. He couldn’t help his jaw from dropping open, his hand moving on it’s own to touch the grass, screw what Zayn had said. “How,” he licked his lips, moistening them a bit, “old are they?”  
  
Since the beginning of paleontology, there was no clear knowledge of how long the incubation period for dinosaurs were. They could guess, whether it was closer to the gestation period for birds or reptiles, but there was nothing that could give researchers and exact answer.  
  
Dr. Smith checked her clipboard, lifting a few pages before finding what she was looking for, “This group has been incubated at five weeks so far, they’ve still got about another one and a half to go before they fully hatch.”  
  
“Six and a half weeks,” he breathed out shakily, keeping his hand on the glass, trying to mold it with the incubator. “So many years of not knowing how long…”  
  
He trailed off, no words able to express the amazement he felt buzzing in his bones. This was so huge for the entire paleontology community, finally some of the questions that had been asked for years can finally be given definite answers.  
  
Liam must have had the same reaction, because he too was silent, but Louis smiled to himself as his eyes took in the eggs with pure joy.  
  
“How did you even accomplish this?” Liam finally spoke, drawing away from the eggs to look at Dr. Calder, who stared back expectantly.  
  
The doctor smiled at Liam, shoving her hands in her pockets.  
  
“I thought you’d never ask Dr. Payne,” she said, her slim body angling towards the steps. “If you’ll follow me I can show you.”  
  
Louis isn’t really paying attention, his sights still on the beauty of the eggs. But he doesn’t miss when Liam asked, “Tommo, you coming?”  
  
He wanted to know as well how these pieces came to be, but when Dr. Smith said they can open the incubator for a bit, following Liam is the last thing on his mind. He waved him off with a quick brush of his hand, muttering a, “Be there in a bit,” and then Liam was off with Dr. Calder, leaving him alone with Dr. Smith and the eggs. And Harry, who snuck up beside him surprisingly. He’d almost forgotten he was even there.  
  
They’re given gloves by Dr. Smith of course, not wanting to risk anything happening to the embryos. It’s anticlimactic when the glass is opened, though he should have suspected it would have been.  
  
“We turn the eggs every couple of hours,” Dr. Smith explained, hovering by them and watching the eggs closely. “They are okay to hold right now, just don’t jostle them around too much. There are real life babies inside and we want them to be born perfect.”  
  
Louis nodded, carefully wrapping two hands around one of the speckled ovals. He handled it like he would handle a human baby, thinking back on when he used to hold his sisters after they had been born.  
  
“God,” He said aloud, bringing the egg up to eye level. “I feel like I’m holding a mutant chicken egg or something.”  
  
Harry laughed beside him, not having touched an egg yet. “Granddad always showed me pictures, but I’ve never seen them in real life,” He explained, reaching over Louis’ shoulder to poke at the egg in his hands.  
  
“Don’t you want to hold one?” Louis asked, glancing up to see Harry looking right back.  
  
He smiled sheepishly and ducked his head, brushing the notion off with a “Nah.”  
  
When Louis asked why not, Harry just said that even though his hands are massive, he can be very uncoordinated at times and it would probably slip from his grasp.  
  
“I don’t want to hurt it,” He continued, trailing a finger down the side of the egg. “And I don’t want to get on granddad’s bad side, so I’ll just watch you.”  
  
His voice dropped an octave lower, sending chills down the back of Louis’ neck and causing the hair there to stand on it’s ends. He hoped Harry didn’t notice. “So, your grandfather…” He tried to steer the conversation to a less intimate one given how close Harry was to him. “He’s a pretty interesting guy, huh?”  
  
“Yeah, he’s okay,” Harry hummed in surprise, before lowering his voice just above a whisper so only Louis could hear. “But I’m even more interesting.”  
  
He doesn’t know what to do but gulp, keeping his eyes straight ahead. His heart sped up if only a little, and he didn’t risk a glance at the obscene man next to him, even though he knew he was waiting for his reaction.  
  
“Mr. Styles, you are a shameless flirt.” Was the only thing that popped into his head.  
  
“Harry,” He corrected him.  
  
Louis repeated his name back like it’s a foreign word on his tongue. Harry Styles was stood with him, commencing in heavy flirting, and Louis was holding a fucking prehistoric egg almost the size of his forearm. It should have been weirder than it was.  
  
There came a sound that rose from behind them, but it was muffled, and Louis and Harry both spun their heads to seek it out. It came again only a few seconds later, directly behind the restricted door, this time sounding more like a moan than a squeak.  
  
He gently set the egg down, careful not to dislodge it as he moved to were Dr. Smith had left the incubator to step in front of the door.  
  
“What was that?”  
  
She doesn’t answer his question, just pressing her finger to a lock pad on the left side of the door. “Do you want to find out?”  
  
                                                                                                                            

* * *

  
  
It breathed erratically, that was the first thing he noticed. It, she, was lying down in a small room in the back of the lab that was darkened and filled with pounds of hay and leaves. They called it the hospital room for the animals. She wasn’t very big, roughly as long as the span of his legs; Dr. Smith said she was only 3 months old.  
  
Louis stood rooted to to the spot, heart beating wildly in his chest as he watched the once extinct animal snort a pile of dust when it exhaled.  
  
It was a dinosaur. A real life, baby triceratops; bone, muscle, and skin. He heard Harry gasp somewhere behind him, but never tore his eyes away from the magnificent girl that lay before them.  
  
Her horns were nothing but little stubs, not big enough to take their pointy shape yet. The bottom of her feet were no bigger than the span of his hand, and her copper skin rippled with every breath she took. She was the most beautiful thing Louis had ever laid eyes on. He blinked back the tears that threatened to fall (out of pure happiness of course), mindlessly thinking that even though he felt all sorts of anger towards Twist and this place, maybe it was okay because he was able to witness this creature, whom he had fallen in love with when he was a child, in real life and up close.  
  
Dr. Smith had explained to them that the baby had gotten sick from the disease that so many other animals came down with, and that her mother had abandoned her in search for healthier young. Which made sense evolutionary wise, since only the healthiest children were able to reproduce and pass on their genes.  
  
Louis could see now the discolored spots on the back of her neck, and her shortness of breath.  
  
“You can check her if you’d like, Dr. Tomlinson,” Dr. Smith said, handing over a fresh new pair of gloves. “It’d be nice to get an opinion of what we’re working with from a paleontologist.”  
  
He wordlessly took the latex from her, his heart dancing in his throat. He fumbled a bit as he removed the old gloves and replaced them, accidentally shoving two fingers in one opening. Once they were on properly though, he moved cautiously around the baby, as not to startle her.  
  
He crouched down to get on her level, letting his gloved hand hover over the warm skin of her belly before dipping his hand to apply pressure to her stomach. Her breath hitched, coming in almost faster than before.  
  
“Shh, shh, baby girl,” He crooned, rubbing comforting circles into her skin when she let out another pained moan. It broke his heart. “You’re fine, baby. I’m not going to hurt you.” A tear escaped, rolling down his right cheek. He wiped it off with the sleeve of his shirt quickly, hoping neither Harry nor Dr. Smith saw. God, he was turning into Liam.  
  
“She also likes it when you sing to her. It calms her down a little.” Okay, Louis would take that into consideration, but he only knew like, two songs.  
  
His fingers threaded lightly over the raised bumps on her neck, feeling the scaly texture beneath the latex. It was odd and completely unheard of for spots like that to appear alongside gastro diseases. But then again, he doesn’t know what kind of plants they’re looking at right now, and he’s not the prehistoric plant expert.  
  
“Liam would be way better for this.” He told the doctor, who wasted no time leaving the “hospital” to go retrieve his partner.  
  
His hands traced over more of her features, across her torso and around her horns, bumping her nose with his finger. He registered Harry crouching in front of her, giggling like a child.  
  
“You should sing to her,” He said, hope beaming from his eyes.  
  
Louis would laugh if he wasn’t so choked up just by looking at her. There was no way he’d be able to sing to her in his state. “I only know a few songs, Harry. You sing to her.”  
  
Harry doesn’t of course, ignoring Louis protest in favor of asking, “How in the world do you only know a few songs?”  
  
“I don’t really listen to music. Just Liam’s mixes sometimes, and whenever I’m home with my sisters.”  
  
Harry shuffled closer to the triceratops, looking up at Louis with wide eyes and a pretty pout splayed on his pink lips. If it wasn’t so endearing he would have definitely said no. Probably.  
  
“Don’t judge me for this. I only know this song because my sisters are brats and played it on repeat for two weeks straight,” He succumbs to the awful display of peer pressure, holding the baby around the stomach as he embarrassingly sang the only song he actually knew the words to.  
  
_“I’ve never fucked Wayne, I’ve never fucked Drake. All my life man fucks sake….”_ And he had to stop after the first line because Harry was laughing at him.  
  
His eyes are closed and he held his stomach while he utterly fell apart. Louis would slap him if he didn’t stop soon.  
  
“Only?” He barked. “Only is the one song you know? How is that even possible? Please, don’t stop.”  
  
He’s still laughing, and Louis would be mad if it wasn’t an incredibly weird, but adorable, laugh. He continued though, because even though the song was explicit and he just made a fool of himself in front of an attractive man, it did seem to slow the baby’s breathing for a bit.  
  
_“If I did I’d menage with them, let em eat my ass like a cupcake.”_  
  
Louis was laughing after the second line too, pausing when he heard the ‘click’ of a camera come from the side. He glanced up at Harry, who was smiling at his phone, like he’d just been caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar.  
  
“Did you just..” He laughed at the same time Harry held his iphone up to his face.  
  
And well, it wasn’t a bad picture. It was actually flattering for him. It was just a simple snapshot of him leaning over the dinosaur, laughing with his teeth out and his eyes crinkled.  
  
“This is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” Harry beamed, cooing from where he sat. “You definitely need this picture saved to your phone. What a perfect way for you to give me your number.”  
  
Louis couldn’t help but grin at the odd man sat before him, biting the inside of his cheek. Harry Styles was going to be the death of him.  
  
And that’s how Liam and the scientists found them, giggling while trying to compose himself enough to finish the first verse of the song.  
  
“Sorry if I’m interrupting, boys," Liam said once he got their attention. Louis at least had the decency to look embarrassed when he leaned away from the close proximity he'd been to Harry.    
  
Harry ran hand through his hair with the hand that also held his phone, which now had a new contact in it under 'Dr. Tomlinsexy' complete with a dragon emoji and everything. Harry claimed it was the closest thing they had to a dinosaur, which Louis had only scoffed at and shot him an offended look.  
  
"Louis was just singing a lovely lullaby to the baby." Harry assured Liam. Louis nodded along seriously.  
  
"Yeah, she seems to really take to the sound of my- soothing voice." His cheeks ached from trying to restrain his grin as Harry let out another honk of a laugh.  
  
The three people standing in front of them just looked on with a sense of exasperation.    
  
The baby dinosaur let out a content wail as it nuzzled against Louis' gloved hand he had been leaning on. The scientists and Liam turned their attention back to creature and watched as Louis cooed and rubbed a finger down her snout gently.  
  
"Dr. Payne, if you don't mind, it would be a great help to know your thoughts on her current conditions. We've been trying to figure out a diagnosis for some time now."  
  
Liam tore his eyes away from the animal, nodding his head as he reached for a pair of gloves offered by Dr. Calder.  
  
"Of course," he affirmed before crouching down next to Louis and giving her a quick visual scan. He approached the baby triceratops carefully letting her scent his hand, like one would do with a dog. The baby snorted and huffed in his direction, cocking her head to one side as if deciding whether he was friendly or not.  
  
Liam looked on the verge of tears as he was judged by a baby triceratops. Louis knew how he felt and gave the baby an encouraging hum as she watched Liam curiously. Eventually she decided he wasn't going to cause her any harm and she nudged his hand and blew air through her nose.  
  
Liam let out a relieved breath as his eyes teared up at the sight of the dino walking around in front of them. She wasn't weak enough yet where she was unable to move, that much was evident. Although, she did move slowly and sometimes whined lowly as if something was hurting her.  
  
"She's beautiful," Liam said, voice almost inaudible as he took in her state. He cleared his throat and shook himself out of his trance. "But, it's obvious something isn't right. You can tell by how she breathes."  
  
Now that Liam pointed it out, Louis did hear the quiet hitch every time she inhaled, almost like a wheeze. That meant the disease was affecting her respiratory system, specifically the lungs.  
  
"Now, there's not a lot of plants that target the lungs if ingested. That should narrow it down a bit.", his fingers traced over the raised skin before he continued, "and these bumps usually indicate swelling which ties to having an allergic reaction."  
  
Dr. Smith and Calder both nodded along writing everything down on clipboards. Louis sat back and watched Liam in his element, impressed at how easily he answered questions the scientists had and listing possible plants off the top of his head.  
  
"Actually, I was given a list of all the plants here, I could look over them and give you an answer by the end of the day."  
  
"That would be amazing, Dr. Payne. If it's not too much trouble of course," Smith gushed as she quickly flipped the pages on her clipboard back to the front.  
  
Liam turned bashful as he looked up at her, "Nah, that's my job isn't it, I'm here to help."  
  
Before anyone could say anything more the door to the hospital slide open and Zayn was briskly walking in, a tired looking Ben following behind.  
  
“Alright,” Zayn declared hastily, brushing past the doctors and pointedly giving as much space between him and the lawyer as possible. “The cars have arrived at the visitor’s center, and I’ve been informed we should begin the second leg of your tour.”  
  
Harry and Liam stood up and dusted off their pants. Louis stayed sitting, not too keen on leaving the baby all by herself just yet. He felt like they formed a bond sometime in the last thirty minutes. Now, they were destined to be friends for life. She would automatically replace Liam because Louis knew she would never smack him for being too loud or restless.  
  
He groaned disappointingly, making sure the rest of the people in the room knew how much he didn’t want to leave. “Fine, I’m ready,” he lied, giving one last rub to the girl’s back. She leaned into his touch, and he made the haste decision to grab the side of her face, ignoring the putrid smell of dinosaur breath, and brush his lips across her front horn. He whispered, “Goodbye love, I’ll come see you again later, I promise.”  
  
Harry gave the small dino a wave, which was more a flutter of his fingers than an actual wave, and smiled down at it. Zayn was already out the door by the time Louis got up and stepped away from the animal.  
  
The doctors thanked he and Liam profusely as they exited the building, Liam promising that he’d (hopefully) be able to give them a the diagnosis by the end of the day.  
  
They climbed back into Zayn’s jeep, taking no time at all for him to fire up the ignition and put the car in drive, feelings of excitement bubbling in the pit of Louis’ belly as he thought about what else they were going to witness during the day.  
  
                                                                                                                               

* * *

  
  
He was still buzzing in the backseat when Zayn pulled into the visitor’s center, parking beside a pair of small SUVs that were brightly colored with the official Jurassic Park logo painted on the side. _Typical._  
  
“Okay, so this part of the tour is what guests will be experiencing when they first come to the park,” Zayn began sliding up to the sleek finish of the first car. “Split it up however you like, two in each, three and one. I don’t care, as long as you’re in a car when it leaves. I’ll see you all at the raptor containment.”   
  
“Wait you’re not riding with us?” Liam questioned, his gaze landing on their guide. Louis noticed the beginnings of a pout already forming on his friend's features.  
  
Zayn was back in his jeep before any of them could blink, tugging on the wheel. “Sorry to disappoint you doctor, but I’ve got some girls to tend to. Khuda-hafiz.”  
  
He gave them all a small smile before he turned the car around and drove off down the dirt path they'd arrived through.    
  
Louis and Liam turned to the other two men, Harry stood there expectantly waiting for one of them to make the first move. The four men watched each other for a moment before Ben sighed, “Ok boys, let’s get this show on road and over with.”  
  
The lawyer turned away from the group and opened the side door to the first car, climbing in shortly afterwards. In his head, Louis was quickly going over the pros and cons of sharing a car with solely Harry, he wasn’t even sure if Liam would agree to joining Ben on his own. Before he could voice any of these options aloud, Harry spoke up.  
  
“Liam, maybe you should join Mr. Winston. He might get lonely,” Harry chuckled, breaking the eye contact with Liam and turning his back to trot over to the second car. And then there were two.  
  
Of course it would be him and Harry sharing a car together, Harry ruthlessly pushing Liam into leaving them alone together. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it made Louis tremble slightly at the thought. Liam wouldn’t leave him alone with that prowess, would he?  
  
It turned out, he would.  
  
“Sounds good,” He laughed, hand landing on the door handle of the car Ben had just entered. “I actually wanted to see if I could squeeze a few things out of him revolving that accident. The whole thing just seems fishy to me-”  
  
“Liam no!” Louis whispered frantically, gripping his shoulders tightly, “You can’t leave me alone with Harry.”  
  
“Why not? He clearly wants to be alone with you,” Liam answered with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows. Louis narrowed his eyes, unimpressed.  
  
“Because, I might end up doing something unspeakable if I’m left to my own devices.” Liam threw his head back snickering, nearly wheezing when he looked back at him. “I’m serious Liam, he’s been flirting with me ever since last night. Who knows what will happen when we’re shoved in a small space together?”  
  
“Are you really that sexually frustrated?” He laughed. “Nothing is going to happen Louis. Now look,” Liam joked, gesturing to the car Harry was in, “Your new friend is waiting for you.”  
  
Louis sighed harshly before he whipped away from Liam and tried not to stomp like a petulant child towards the car. There was no use trying to convince Liam of something that wasn’t exactly his choice either. Harry hadn’t really left much room for discussion when he had suggested Liam ride with Ben.  
  
He reached the car and opened as the resounding noise of Liam closing his own car door rung in his ears. Inside the car, Harry was smiling at him waving animatedly on the other side of the glass.

Louis couldn’t help his responding grin as he climbed in and situated himself in the seat farthest from Harry.  
  
“Are you excited?” Harry asked him as he slid closer, until the space between their legs was only about three inches wide. Louis could now smell the expensive cologne Harry had been wearing last night along with the lingering scent of bleach from the labs, beneath it all there was a faint, unique smell that seemed to be just Harry. It was warm and inviting, Louis wanted to wrap himself in it like he would with the throw his mother had sent last winter when they were just in the middle of Meley’s dig.     
  
“What kind of question is that to ask a paleontologist? Of course I’m excited, I’ve been studying these animals since I was seven,” Louis gushed as the anticipation settled in his bones.  
  
“How did you get into the study anyways?” Harry spoke as he settled into a more comfortable position in his seat. “I’ve read all about your work but nothing ever mentions where it all began.”  
  
Why on earth was Harry so interested in knowing these random things about his life? He couldn’t really find Louis that interesting, he was just a paleontologist. Harry has probably met all kind of people with his grandfather’s connections, he probably went out to lunch with other socialites like popstars and models. Not paleontologists. But, Louis, it seemed, was incapable of denying him.  
  
“Well, do you want the interview version or the real version?”  
  
“Real version, please,” Harry responded, shifting so his whole body was facing Louis.  
  
Louis cleared his throat and pretended to fix his tie, giving the impression that he was preparing for a speech. Harry smiled softly at him and nudged his leg with two knuckles in a signal to stop taking the piss.  
  
“It’s not that great of a story actually,” Louis began, becoming super aware of Harry’s fingers still barely brushing his thigh. “When I was about six, my mum had been moving us around a lot. On one of our moves  we stopped off the side of the highway to get gas, and there was this like, big pile of stone sitting behind the station.” He laughed, recalling the memory of his mum shouting at him for leaving his baby sister in the car by herself. “Something caught on my foot and I ended up falling on my face. When I figured out what it was, I ran back to the car with blood all over my shorts trying to get my mum to look at the little fish that was stuck in the rock.”  
  
He continued, “After the big freakout of me getting hurt she explained to me that the fish wasn’t stuck in there, that it was just the shape of the fish imprinted in the rock. I asked her how that was possible, and she told me about fossils. I pestered her the whole rest of the drive about them, annoying her to no end. I made her buy me every dinosaur book I saw, and the rest is history.”  
  
As he finished his life story, he caught  Harry looking at him with soft eyes, and an expression like he was trying to take everything in as if it were the most interesting secret in the world. He watched Louis watch him for a second before his face broke into a smile, “The visual of a young Louis being fascinated by a fish fossil is down right adorable.”  
  
“Shut up,” Louis tried to be stern, jabbing Harry in his stomach lightly, but it was ultimately lost on contact. “Why are you so interested in my life anyway?”  
  
“Because,” Harry started, laughing as he pushed his hands out of the way. “Whether you think it or not, I find you interesting. And I know you and your coworkers are some of the only people left who actually give a shit about what they do. I can tell you aren’t just in it for the money like… some people are.”  
  
Louis would have thanked him for the compliment if his smile didn’t falter a smidge when he said the last part, about only caring about money. “Speaking from experience?” He dared to ask, watching the way Harry’s eyebrows furrowed and his eyes dropped to his lap.  
  
Maybe that wasn’t such a good question to ask.  
  
But the curly haired man answered honestly, eyes shifting to the front of the car, “It’s just, sad sometimes. When I think about what granddad has done here. I mean, sure it’s astounding and a historical achievement, but,” he stopped, tossing his hair back with his hand, “it’s not right, ya know? There’s a reason dinosaurs went extinct. It just feels like we’re playing a role we shouldn’t. Like we’re trying to play God.”    
  
And yeah, that was exactly what Louis had been saying since the whole thing started in the beginning. He got a sense of how Harry felt about the whole thing last night at dinner, even if it was just a brief spout of his opinionated words to Twist. It was just refreshing to be able to listen to someone else who felt the same way for once.     
  
“Look, I love my grandfather with all my heart. He’s not a bad man. But he just doesn’t understand what he’s doing sometimes, and it just doesn’t feel right.” Harry explained more, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. “There were so many other tropical species that lived here before he started building the park, and they’ve been forced out of their home. I wish my granddad would just understand what I’m telling him, that sometimes money and pleasing people isn’t always a good thing.”  
  
Harry finished his spiel with a deep sigh, cracking one of his eyes open to see Louis’ reaction. Louis watched as his face changed from his pained expression to one that was emotionally drained. Neither looked too pleasant on someone like Harry, who had been all bright eyes and easy smirks the whole time. Louis immediately wanted to change that.  
  
“I’m sure your grandfather always had good intentions. But it’s nice to hear your thoughts. Good to see the youth of the world isn’t so bad off after all.”  
  
“Youth of the world?” Harry squawked, sitting up and giving him an affronted look.    
  
“Yeah, you can’t be more than 12, right?” He responded, a teasing lilt in his voice as he looked at Harry curiously.  
  
The man just scoffed, “I’m not that much younger than you, you know.” He leaned his arm against the back of the seat playfully glaring at him.  
  
He was just too much sometimes, Louis couldn’t take it. He was about to respond with a ‘how old are you then?’ when Harry beat him and said,  
  
“In fact, I might just be older than you. If it wasn’t for your career I would have thought you were in your early twenties or something. You look like you’d belong in one of those american fraternities.”  
  
Louis was appalled. “Please, I’m not a bloody teenager,” he responded trying not think too much about scenarios that involved a snapback, red solo cups, and too small dorm beds. Jesus.  
  
“Well, I’m not a teenager either, so I don’t think I would be counted in whatever census applies to the Youth of the World.” Harry fired back, moving closer in a way he must have thought was subtle. Louis could see right through him though, if the way his leg twitched when Louis gave him a quick once over through his own laughter was anything to go by.  
  
Louis watched Harry’s eyes lower to his lips as his soft giggles subdued. He swallowed once before saying, “I feel like you’d have the sexdrive of a teenager.” Louis meant for it too come out somewhat sultry, but he failed on keeping his voice from lowering into a whisper. He also never meant for it to come out in the first place but Harry’s wandering eyes were doing all sorts of things to him.  
  
Harry slowly blinked down at him, his eyes going dark as he matched Louis’ tone, “Would you like to find ou-”  
  
“Welcome to Jurassic Park!”  
  
The voice from inside the car boomed loud in their ears, making them startle away from each other and effectively killing whatever that was. Breaking their eye contact, Louis noted the speakers placed on the roof of each side of the car, back on front. The voice sounded deep and almost familiar, but Louis couldn’t place it until Harry asked,  
  
“Is that Obama?” Louis thought about it for a second, before realizing that Harry was indeed correct. Why in the world was the president of the united states doing the voiceover for Jurassic Park?    
  
“How did you get that so quickly?”    
  
“Grandad’s really good friends with Barack, we’ve spent Christmas with his family a couple of times.”  
  
That startled a laugh out of Louis, just when he thought Harry styles was done surprising him he goes and says something like that. “Of course you’d spend Christmas at the white house.” He giggled at Harry’s offended ‘hheeyy’ that followed.  
  
Obama continued talking, describing the park and giving them a brief history lesson on its origin. Louis raised his eyebrows at how often Twist’s name was dropped. He was positive the businessman was making sure he received all the credit for the magnificent park, and not any of the scientists who, you know, did all the actual work.  
  
“Today you will be taking the T-Rex Tour. Just like our friend this tour is the biggest and most inclusive tour the park has to offer. You will be able to witness all of Jurassic Park’s paddocks, from triceratops to raptors.”    
  
The cars came to a stop then, right in front of a 20-foot wire fence. There were multiple signs around the paddock saying ‘DANGER 10000 VOLTS’, which was definitely an effective tactic to use to contain these animals.  
  
“The first dinosaur on our tour is the Dilophosaurus.” Obama announced, voice ringing through the speakers and vibrating the walls of the SUV.  
  
“No way,” Louis shifted his body so it was pressed as close to the side as possible, hands palming the windows in intrigue. He sort of wished Liam was there so they could let out their excitement together. Instead his phone buzzed where it sat in his pocket, pulling it out he looked at the text Liam sent him from his lock screen. It mostly consisted of exclamation marks and all caps, Louis could sympathize.     
  
He felt as Harry slide up close to his back, a few curls brushing against the side of his neck. He was semi-uncomfortable being pushed up against the door like that, and he knew Harry probably didn’t have a very good view.  
  
“You can’t possibly have a good view or be comfortable Harry,” Louis spoke softly.  
  
“I’m fine,” Harry tried to lie, his tone giving him away. His lips brushed against Louis' ears as he spoke, Louis' toes curled in his vans hoping his shiver wasn't obvious.  
  
Louis rolled his shoulders back, turning in his seat. “We both can’t fit here. I’ll just take shotgun.”  
  
“Or…” Harry grinned devilishly, glancing down at him.  
  
Louis quickly caught on to what he was insinuating his own jaw falling slack a little, "I am not sitting on your lap."    
  
Once again Harry’s flirtatious demeanor caused a slight spike in his heart rate, but he was stronger than that. He had to show Harry he wasn’t keen on playing these games, even if it secretly made him blush a light shade of magenta.  
  
“The Dilophosaurus, native to North America during the early Jurassic period 200 million years ago, was one of the first dinosaurs created here at Jurassic Park." Obama’s scripted voice spoke again while Louis moved around the car. If he accidentally grabbed Harry’s thigh or slid his bum over his lap, well no one really had to know did they?  
  
Louis pretended not to hear Harry's soft groan as he climbed over him and the gear shift towards the passenger seat.  
  
"Recently it was discovered by our scientists that the Dilophosaurus is actually poisonous, spitting it's venom at it's prey and predators."  
  
Louis made an intrigued sound as he settled in his new seat. Liam was texting him an array of _"DO YOU SEE IT??!!?"_ And _"LOUIS WHERE IS IT????!!!!!!"_  
  
They peered out the windows again, eyes roaming the tropical forest area that was enclosed behind the fences.  
  
The bristling of a few long palm leaves caught his attention, dragging his eyes over to the commotion just in time to see the small head of the dinosaur peek out.  
  
It was shy at first it seemed, barely lifting it's head out of the bushes. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Harry taking his phone to take a picture. What he didn't expect was the flash to be on, or for the animal to screech loudly behind the barrier and dart out towards the cars.  
  
It didn't get close enough to touch the fence, but it unfurled the skin on the side of its neck and continued to make the ear piercing noise. The flaps of skin made the dino look like a menacing sunflower, one Louis knew was deadly.  
  
Before Louis could react, the animal set its jaws opened and hissed loud in the back of its throat, a small amount of black liquid splattering across the passenger door of the car Liam and Ben were in.  
  
Liam's scream could be heard from their car, and tears prickled the sides of his eyes before Louis got a chance to even let out a chuckle. He clutched his stomach, falling back into the seat as his goat laugh spewed past his lips, overpowering the voice of Obama, who was still talking about the Dilophosaurus.  
  
“Oops!” Harry giggled along, the same time Louis’ cell vibrated in his hand.  
  
“Can you believe that Liam?” He answered in awe, swiping the green accept button as Liam’s name popped on the screen. “Can you believe that just happened?”  
  
_“I know I knnoooowww!!”_ Came from the other end of the receiver. _“I was genuinely terrified for a moment, oh my god. Do you know what set it off like that?”_  
  
Louis looked back around at Harry, who whistled and looked far off, acting like it wasn’t him who caused the dinosaur to go into defense mode. “It probably thought it was feeding time. You are quite beefy.” Liam gave a melodramatic Haha, very funny, over line line, before Louis continued, “You can blame young Harold here. Forgot to turn his flash off. Tragic.” It received him a harmless pinch to the back.  
  
_“Tell Harry we say thank you,”_  
  
“Tell Mr. Winston I’m sorry he has to put up with your shrieking!”  
  
_“Lou-”_ He ended the call, interrupting his friend as he tapped the red button on the screen.  
  
Louis pocketed his phone, deciding that maybe sharing a cramped space with Harry Styles wasn’t such a bad idea, no matter that his dick was saying otherwise. After causing Liam to shout like that, Harry was quickly becoming his new favorite.  
  
The car moved forward after its short pause in front of the dilophosaurus' fence, Obama announcing the next paddock there were heading towards.  
  
"The next dinosaur we're going to meet is the Brachiosaurus, this dino originated 150 million years ago during the late Jurassic Period. These animals can average up to 40-50 feet tall. Scientists have discovered behavioral patterns in this type of dinosaur, one being that they move in herds."  
  
Louis watched as the trees and foliage moved passed his window while the car followed the dirt path. The metal rods of the fencing glistened in the harsh sunlight and Louis was glad to be inside a conditioned vehicle and not out in the sweltering heat.  
  
As they approached the second paddock on their tour the car began to slow down. Louis pressed up closer to the window and peered through the fencing trying to find any sign of the long-necked dinosaurs on the other side.  
  
Towards the middle of the paddock Louis finally spotted one. This brachiosaurus seemed to be smaller than what Louis had imagined. The dino peeked her head from under a large red leaf and peered curiously down in the direction of the cars. Louis' gasp was caught in his throat as he watched a second head pop up behind her. This one was much taller and seemed about the right height. He could hear Harry snapping away at them with his phone this time without any flash.  
  
The larger of the two didn't spare the cars a second glance; they most likely looked like ants to her. Instead, she stretched her neck and bit off a branch from one of the taller trees inside the enclosure. Her baby followed her steps and chomped off a smaller branch in her reach.  
  
Out in the distance, Louis took note of the leafy mountains that stretched as far as the eye could see, and an enormous dark lake where even more brachiosauruses were located. Some were wading in the water, while a few had their 20-foot necks lowered down enough to lap at the water.  
  
Looking back at the mother and baby, he was overcome with tenderness seeing the two up close. The older dinosaur stopped eating for a moment, craning down to give a few quick licks to the top of her baby’s head.  
  
Louis and Harry both cooed loudly. Louis was on the verge of tears again and he could only imagine how Liam was holding up, probably bawling into his hands.  
  
His phone buzzed where he held it in his hand, it was another text from Liam, _'I'M CRYINF THAT WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING I'VE EVER SEEN'_   he followed it with an array of distressed emojis. Louis typed back a 'me too!!!!' through watering eyes.  
  
Louis sighed and leaned back in his seat as the car kept moving, leaving the brachiosaurus herd behind.  
  
"We've been trying to figure out for ages now whether they moved in packs or not."  
  
Harry looked back at him, “Well, I guess that's a good thing about all of this then, that you can finally put an answer to a lot of your questions.”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
The cars rolled along the path, turning a corner to approach the next set of fences. It looked dark and grimy, there were no signs located anywhere to indicate what kind of dinosaur inhabited the area, and not even Obama’s droll came around as they entered the paddock.  
  
Instead of stopping though, the cars drove on, leaving Louis to wonder just what kind of things were happening there.  
  
Harry shared the same confused face as him, his breath fogging up the glass when he spoke, “Maybe it’s under construction.”  
  
“Yeah maybe,” Louis began checking around one last time before seeing a small tail rustle around in the thick grass. “No wait look!” He pointed to the area that was just moving. Harry glanced just a bit too late, missing as the animal ducked out of sight.  
  
“I don’t see anything.”  
  
He didn’t get a very good look at it either, but he definitely saw a tail, and by the looks of it, it was most likely some type of herbivore. So if there was a species already living in the paddock, why wasn’t it put on the tour?  
  
He didn’t have much more time to think about whether or not he actually saw something when they pulled up to probably the tallest and widest set of fences in the park.  
  
“The next dinosaur on our tour is the carnivorous Tyrannosaurus Rex,” Obama introduced, pushing Louis a little farther back in his seat as his eyes widened, subconsciously remembering exactly what a T-Rex could do, even if it was trapped behind the wire. “Native to North America during the late Cretaceous period, the 40-foot long and 20-foot tall T-Rex was first discovered in 1902. It was later given it’s name in 1905 by Henry Osborn. Based on the animal’s size, it’s no wonder the name means ‘Tyrant Lizard King’.”  
  
They waited anxiously, not a word spoken between the two as they watched out the window for a sign of movement.  
  
Nothing came. Not even when a small pig was released from a compartment on the side of the cage. It ran around a few times before disappearing behind the trees. Typical, Louis figured, seeing as though no one working here truly had any idea of how a carnivore such as the rex existed in the wild. T-Rex weren’t given handouts; they were hunters.  
  
“Huh,” Harry meshed his words with the thin air. “Maybe it got spooked or summat.”  
  
“Mm.”  
  
The automated cars stood still for a few more moments, Louis still holding out hope that the creature would show.  
  
“Damn,” He groaned when the cars moved forward, leaving the rex habitat a sullen painting dancing away in the background.  
  
He didn’t let himself get too caught up over it, imagining that once they officially started working for Jurassic Park they’d be able to see dinosaurs all the time, no matter how much the thought gave him goosebumps.  
  
He wondered how exactly they were even supposed to work with the dinosaurs in the first place. Herbivores would be easier, considering they wouldn’t want to eat him, but how were they supposed to consult about the meat eaters? He’d rather like to stay in one piece, thank you.  
  
The sounds of the tires coming to another stop shook him of the prospects of the job to come. They were now pulled up next to what Louis could only describe as a gargantuan spherical shaped containment. It sort of resembled the giant golf ball that rested at Disney’s Epcot, only it had an almost see through grey tint to it.  
  
“Now if you’ll look to your right, you’ll see our most prestigious Bird Cage. With a volume of over 49 million square feet, it is able to contain eight different species of winged dinosaurs, including the Pteranodon, Anurognathus, and the most famous, Pterodactylus.”  
  
There were multiple cherry pickers nestled around the outside of the sphere, raised at various levels. Many of the workers were around wearing construction hats and carrying welding torches, and he recalled yesterday that the Irish engineer, Niall, had told them he had something to do with the birdcage.  
  
It was obvious they were not going to be visiting the inside of the cage just yet, seeing as though there was still construction going on with it.  
  
“Hey Niall!” Came a shout behind him, turning to find Harry halfway out the window. When did he even put the window down?  
  
Louis rolled down his window as well to get a better look at where Harry was looking, spotting Niall near the base of the birdcage speaking to another engineer.  
  
The blonde man turned his head in their direction when he heard his name called. He gave them an animated wave before telling something to his coworker and jogging towards the two cars, that were both stopped for the moment being.  
  
"Alright, lads?" Niall panted as he leaned against the car door. "How are you enjoying the tour so far?"  
  
"We saw a herd of brachiosauruses," Harry answered proudly, Niall indulged him with an impressed noise. It was obvious they were friends.  
  
"Yeah they're quite active around this time of day. I'm afraid you won't be able to see any winged creatures today though," He gestured towards the dome in the background.  
  
"We've still got weeks of finishing the cage, but it's coming along well," He gave them an apologetic smile before he turned his attention towards Louis.  
  
"So Doc, what are your thoughts so far?"  
  
Louis gave the question some thought. The park had definitely left a mark on Louis, this was the equivalent to a paleontologist's Disney World. And, although his mind hadn't changed about the morals of the park one bit, he still felt beyond impressed and it almost felt surreal.    
  
“Quite hard to believe it's real, if I’m honest.”  
  
Niall laughed, but turned from them when his name was called from the person he’d been talking to when they first pulled up. “Well, there’s still so much for you to see,” his feet dragging him backwards at the same time the cars revved to life again.  
  
 “They have a life of their own, these contraptions. See you guys around.”  
  
The windows rolled back up automatically, making Louis feel as if the cars really did have a mind of their own and wanted to keep them cooped up in the small space.  
  
He sat staring out the window, eerily quiet for a beat until Harry’s low voice rang in his ear.  
  
“What are you thinking about?”  
  
There were so many things that were running through his head at the moment, but only one really stuck out to him.  
  
“I was thinking about these animals," he turned in his seat so he was looking at Harry while he spoke. "They come from different time periods spanning millions of years. Some were extinct before the other got a chance to evolve. Now they are thrown together after having no interaction whatsoever. It’s different.”  
  
“Good different, or bad different?” Harry commented.  
  
“I don’t know yet.”  
  
                                                                                                                       

* * *

 

  
Zayn was standing around the side of the raptor house watching them like a hawk. It made Louis a tad anxious, the way his eyes shifted every so often between them and the cages. It was almost like he was possessive over the animals in the cage before them, or he was waiting for something to happen.  
  
The tour ended a little while ago, after they were shown various other species, such as the Stegosaurus, Gallimimus, and even the Compsognathus, the first carnivore that wasn’t people shy. Obama had dismissed them with a friendly, "I hope you've enjoyed your tour here at Jurassic Park," followed by a dramatic musical outro.  
  
Now they were stood outside a thick containment area known as the raptor house. It was smaller than the other paddocks, closely resembling something you’d find in a zoo. It was more heavy duty than the rest though, which was understandable considering the ruthless and dangerous nature of the velociraptor. They had to take every precaution they could. Even the glass in the underground viewing area was made of material not found anywhere else. It was probably a thousand times more cautionary than anything you would find in a zoo or aquarium. These were raptors, after all.  
  
Liam took a step forward, but was immediately stilled by a frazzled Zayn. He withdrew his hand as fast as he'd outstretched it, "Sorry, they've just never been in the presence of new people yet."  
  
He tugged at the red bandana he had around his neck, "I wouldn't get too close while they're still trying to scent you. It might," he made a face, "cause a reaction."  
  
Liam nodded at him and took two steps backwards, "Right."    
  
He was about to keep walking when he paused, a confused expression taking over his features, "Do you think they'll react well to the thousands of guests that will be visiting the park, then?"  
  
Zayn blinked a few times at his question, his hand tugging at the red fabric again, before he clasped both hands behind his back and fully looked at Liam,  
  
"Well, hopefully by then they'll be use to human's presence and won't be in the sensitive stage that they are in now."  
  
Louis watched as the two dived into a conversation about Raptors and their health. He shrugged and then continued to look down into the enclosure. All he could really see were the tops of the trees, which would sometimes move with the activity happening beneath them.  
  
Louis was gazing at an area exposed to the group when Harry nudged him.  
  
"Did you hear that?"  
  
Louis listened for a second, the only sounds were the buzz of insects, "Hear what?"  
  
Before the words could fully leave his mouth a muffled noise could be heard coming from inside the enclosure. A few leaves shifted as something moved beneath them, and soon there was a raptor in plain sight. It stood in the unobscured area, the sunlight hitting it so Louis could take in every detail of its appearance.  
  
"God, they look vile," came a voice from Louis' right. He turned just in time to see Zayn shoot him a dark glare.  
  
The raptor seemed to hear their voices and looked up at them for a minute. Everyone stood frozen as the creature assessed them with her cat-like eyes. Then, it proceeded to convulse before letting out a gurgled shriek, and throwing up a yellowish green liquid.  
  
Louis couldn't stop from wincing at how miserable the animal looked once it had finished spewing its insides.  
  
“How often does that happen?” Liam beat him to the punch.  
  
Zayn had his hands on the railing, looking down on the poor girl with worry. “A few times a day. She’ll throw up most of the food she’s given in the morning.”  
  
“Have you seen her ingest any of the plants down there?” He asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “I know they are carnivores, and I don't know how it works with prehistoric ones, but most animals eat some sort of vegetation when they're not feeling right.”  
  
“I’ve never seen her do that, or any of them, but I’m not here 24/7 so I can’t be sure that they don’t."  
  
Louis felt bile rise in his throat when Liam asked the next question.  
  
“Is there anyway I could examine their feces? If they have what the other animals have and have consumed any plants, I can probably find some traces of it."  
  
Zayn’s face fell from an expression of uncertainty to disgust, and then there was nothing, like he just accepted what Liam wanted to do.  
  
He moved quickly from the group, roaming over a gated area of the complex that separated the main area from a second part of the containment. His fingers danced over a control panel as pushed in a code.  
  
It took a moment, but then the walls that split the two containment areas lifted, the metal creaking loudly in the otherwise quiet space. A few more buttons were pushed and a lever was coming out from the side of the fenced and hovering over the trees. Louis' eyes widened at what was dangling from said lever.  
  
It was a live cow, strapped into a black harness. The cow gave a soft moo, probably coming to terms with its inevitable doom, as it was lowered into the recently opened part of the enclosure.  
  
The group waited with baited breath for a moment before movement began underneath all the foliage. Thundering footfalls of what seemed like hundreds of raptors to Louis zoomed under the trees. Zayn watched on a small screen as all the red dots moved to the right of the screen, indicating that all raptors where had entered the space. He didn't waste another minute pressing the button to lower the metal gates and ensure the animals' enclosure once more.  
  
"That should do it, the open space is safe now for us to enter." He furrowed his eyebrows, thinking for a bit before continuing.  
  
"Just try not to get too close to the gates, we'll be standing close enough to them, being in their territory and all, we don't want to rile them up further."  
  
If Zayn was trying to scare them, he was doing a successful job of it. Louis shared a worried look with Harry, who seemed about ready to run for it.  
  
He gulped once before following Zayn down the steps and into the raptor house.  
  
It was steamy below the roof of trees. The air in the enclosure had a moist and heady feel to it. The dirt grounds were covered in leaves and at one corner Louis saw a pile of bones. The combination of the smell, look, and all around feel of the place gave Louis goosebumps as he tried to walk closer to Harry. It was just eerie knowing that carnivorous, not to mention intelligent, dinosaurs had just been roaming around where he was currently standing. He felt like one of the raptors was going to poke its head from behind a tree at any given moment.  
  
Ben offered to remain on the railings above, claiming he’d really not take his chances near the “rabid” animals. Louis was beginning to dislike him more and more as he opened his mouth.  
  
Louis was peering up at the gnarled branches when he felt something on his shoulder, a squeak died in his throat when he jumped back and hit Harry in the chest with his arms protectively outstretched in front of him.  
  
"Oh my god," he started watching Harry cover his mouth as he laughed into his palm.    
  
"I really did not mean to scare you," Harry said through giggles. Louis gave him a bewildered look and was about to retort when Zayn turned and gave them a sharp look.  
  
"Can we not make lots of noise, please"  
  
They both nodded their heads at him, Harry going as far to make the sealed lips gesture. Louis simply elbowed him in the ribs once Zayn had turned back around.  
  
Louis glanced over at Liam, who was bent over inspecting a mound of what looked like dirt. Stepping forward, Louis quickly smelled that it was not in fact dirt, but a pile of shit.  
  
Velociraptor shit.  
  
Liam was elbow deep in it once Louis had walked all the way there, Harry following behind.  
  
“Liam, I thought I’d seen you in some crazy shit before,” he smiled at his own joke. “But this is a whole new level.”  
  
“Now now, Louis! There's no need for shit talking,” Harry added in on the the amusement, cackling backwards as he threw his head back. He stopped laughing all of the sudden, face paling as he halted his steps.    
  
Louis noticed and asked as his laughter dwindled to a stop, "What's wrong?"  
  
Liam’s laughter escaped before Harry got a chance to say anything, Zayn almost inaudibly joining him after a beat. Louis was confused for a moment looking between the pair, until he followed where their eyes were focused on.  
  
He bit his bottom lip, trying not to laugh at the sight of one of Harry’s expensive looking boots sunk into a smaller pile of poop they stepped over earlier.  
  
“Aw mate I’m sorry. That’s so shitty,” came surprisingly from Zayn, who was looking at Liam with contempt.  
  
Zayn and Liam turned their attention back to the rancid excretion, sharing another giggle and small look when Harry groaned and kicked at the dirt attempting to clean his shoe off.  
  
“These are ysl….” he trailed off, Louis chose to ignore him in favor of watching his partner mold his arms into the feces, somehow already getting used to the smell.  
  
Liam slowly removed his arms, the brown gunk trailing them on the way out. He was lucky it only coated his gloves.  
  
His hand opened and he spit a generous amount of saliva in his palm, covering the waste sitting there. Louis questioned what he was doing, but once Liam started twirling the pieces between his fingers, he realized that there was something there, and he was using his spit to clean it off to get a better look.  
  
“Just what I thought,” the words tumbled out of his mouth rather quickly as he held the tiny object in his hand up to the sunlight to get a clearer view. “They’ve ingested Cycad seeds. That’s probably what’s been causing them to get sick like that.”  
  
Zayn’s brows knitted together in a pensive look, a hand quickly swiping over his stubble. “But they told me cycads weren’t poisonous. Those are one of the main plants here at the park because their leaves give shade to the animals.”  
  
Liam stripped his arms of the tainted gloves, tossing them to the side before standing up. Zayn and Louis followed his tracks as he moved around the paddock, stopping in front of what he assumed to be the plants in question.  
  
“Well, the more present-day cycads aren’t poisonous, and neither are the prehistoric ones really,” he noted, fingers gliding across the base of the plant. “But their seeds are, and it can be quite toxic. They definitely can cause the symptoms the animals have been exhibiting. I’d need to look further though, just to make sure.”  
  
Louis admired Liam’s ability to jump into something and give it his all before coming up with a solution. Liam would double and triple check everything just to make sure he was right and wasn’t missing anything, whereas Louis would go with the first thing he found, even if he might not be correct.  
  
Zayn glanced at the watch on his arm, looking from Liam to Louis, then back to Liam. “You’re welcome to stay if you want to, Dr. Payne. I appreciate your help. I can just drive you back in my jeep later.”  
  
“That sounds perfect,” he thanked Zayn, facing Louis who had gotten quiet. “Is that okay, Tommo? Can you manage the last part without me?”  
  
Louis scoffed. Of course he could manage just fine without bloody Liam around for a little while.  
  
“No problem, I’m not your keeper Liam. And Id rather not be in a room with you until you’ve showered first.” It earned him an over dramatic eyeroll.  
  
“Besides, you’ll be with Harry,” Liam smirked knowingly, tilting his shoulders towards the man, who was unflateringly still cleaning the filth from the heel of his high-dollar shoes. “And you’ve got Ben.”  
  
He waved up at the lawyer, who looked down at them emotionlessly and merely nodded.  
  
“Time to go gentlemen?” Ben shouted from above.  
  
Louis looked back at Liam, who moved on to another pile of excrement with Zayn hot on his heels.  
  
“See you back at the resort!” He threw over his shoulder, Louis tossing one last wave at him in return.  
  
Making their way back up the ramp, Louis decided to lean over the railing and shout a, “DON’T GET EATEN LIAM,” before climbing back into the sweet air conditioned car.  
  
                                                                                                                           

* * *

  
  
The control room was hidden behind the guise of plants and man made boulders. At first glance you wouldn't think anything of it.  
  
Louis didn't think anything of it. But, as the car came to a slow pace and turned off the main path he saw glimpses of metal walls. Upon further inspection he noticed that the plants were placed a certain way for the sake of disguising the building that hide behind them. What looked like stone before, now seemed to have more of a plastic texture up close painted in greys and browns.  
  
Both cars drove around the building, the wheels crunching on fallen leaves, before coming to a halt directly on the side hidden from the main road.  
  
The doors unlocked and the three men made their way out of their respective cars and towards the control room. They stopped unsurely once close enough, there wasn't exactly a door anywhere in sight.  
  
"Umm," Louis trailed off, turning to Harry with a raised eyebrow.    
  
Ben walked up to the walls of the building, parting leaves to the side, "Where is the door?"  
  
They heard some rustling from the right side of the building. Something was walking towards them through all the plants, leaves crunched under whatever the newcomer was.  
  
Louis felt a cold rush of fear run down his spine. They were only three men standing exposed in the middle of a park that housed a few hundred dinosaurs.  
  
Harry gripped Louis' bicep, his hold tightening as the sound grew closer. Suddenly the noise stopped and one large plant was pushed to the side to reveal something far less scaly and deadly than Louis had imagined. Well, someone.  
  
"Hello, boys!" A cheerful Twist made his way toward the group. He was dressed quite differently than what Louis was used to seeing him in. Twist had replaced his pristine button ups and dress pants for and outfit Louis was used to himself during digs. The businessman wore khakis and a red t-shirt with the Jurassic Park logo across the chest.  
  
He brandished a sort of cane as he walked up to them. Louis guessed he had used it to move about the foliage without getting hit in the face by any rogue leaves.  
  
Harry exhaled and let go of Louis' arm, leaving the skin a subtle red after being held so tightly.    
  
“Your theatrics never fail to amaze me, sir.” Ben panted, leaning against the wall where he had startled to upon Twist's grand entrance. His face was still flushed in fear as he shook his head disapprovingly in the man's direction.  
  
Twist gave a laugh and patted him on the shoulder twice before moving in closer to where Louis and Harry stood.  
  
"Where's Dr. Payne?"  
  
"He decided to stay back with Zayn at the raptor house, I think he's found the plant that's causing all the illness here," Louis informed.  
  
The old man’s lips parted, a look of disbelief mounting his wrinkled face. “I knew he would! I absolutely knew he would figure it out!” He griped Louis’ shoulders, shaking him. Not hard, but just enough to dig his fingers into the fabric and catch some skin in astonishment. “I knew you both would do great things here. Things are going to get so much better here I know it!”  
  
Louis responded with an unsure laugh and wasn't given any time to form a verbal response before Twist was turning around and ushering them in the direction where he had came from.  
  
"Come on, then. I want you to see the control room, this entire park is run on the finest technology man can buy."    
  
They were led through a maze of plants. Louis had to be careful when stepping over the gnarls of raised roots that lined the ground. Harry wasn't as careful and stumbled over a handful, always righting himself with a hand on Louis' shoulder, before they reached a large door. After the third time, Louis had started to wonder if Harry was actually that clumsy or if he was doing it on purpose.    
  
The four men filed into the dark entrance of the building after Twist punched in the passcode and unlocked the door.  
  
The man led the group through a small hallway, going on about high tech control panels and state of the art equipment. Louis saw Harry roll his eyes fondly at his grandfather's gloating.

Another code was entered and then Louis found himself staring into a wide futuristic looking room. The first thing that caught his eye was the screen that covered the entire back wall from ceiling to floor. It was filled with different boxes streaming live feed of various areas of the park. It definitely met the high standards Twist had been going on about.  
  
The second thing that Louis noticed was that the room was close to empty. Only three seats were filled in front of the control panel.  
  
The three people turned around at the sound of the door opening.  
  
"Boys," he addressed the three men in similar red shirts, "I'd like you to meet Dr. Tomlinson, Mr. Winston, and my grandson Harry."  
  
The workers all greeted them, standing to shake their hands. The first one Louis met was a tall man with a dark quiff that only made him seem taller. He grinned down at Louis, it made him wary at how friendly the man looked.    
  
"Nicholas Grimshaw, doctor. I watched the unveiling of your sauropod the other week, you seem much taller on television."    
  
Louis' expression faltered slightly, but he caught himself from sneering at the man's condescending tone.  
  
"Must have been the way my hair was styled that night, the stylist said it would make up for my height. Your hair is in a similar style, though. What are you trying to compensate for, Nicholas?"    
  
Nick’s eyes gave him a once over, before turning back to his boss. “As charming as they’ve said.”  
  
Louis could immediately tell he was the type of person he would usually avoid. He wished Liam was there so they could've shared a knowing look. But alas, he shot him a practiced grin before moving on to the next worker.  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet you Dr. Tomlinson, I'm a huge admirer of your work. My name's Jeff.”  
  
Louis almost got whiplash at the contrast of the two workers. Jeff gave off a much more genuine vibe, whereas Nick just seemed snarky and stuck up.  
  
“These men keep my sanity,” Twist divulged, stepping between the pair and rubbing their shoulders like he did with Louis earlier. “Among the others of course.”  
  
Louis studied the large monitor in the back of the expansive room once more, noting the map of the park full of dancing red dots.  
  
_“Reminder: The boat for the mainland will be leaving in 0100 hours.”_ A feminine voice announced through the PA system.  
  
He registered the nicer guy, Jeff, scrambling back to what he guessed was his work station. He made haste typing away at his keyboard before clicking a few buttons and shutting down the monitor of his computer.  
  
Louis’ gaze remained fixed on the generous number of dots littering the screen even when he heard the man mutter, “Alright boys, I’ve got to get home to the missus. I’ll see you all next week.”  
  
Twist waved him off easily, “Give a hello to Glenne from me!”  
  
Shortly after the man left, another worker staggered in the room, her bright purple hair even fluorescent under the dim lighting of the room. She briskly walked over to Nick’s station and engaged him in a hushed conversation.  
  
 Louis turned back so he could finish greeting the third worker that had been in the room, an older man who simply gave him a half-hearted smile before he returned to his own computer, unperturbed. He shrugged it off and glanced up at the screen that seemed to be captivating most of his attention.  
  
“Are those the animals?” Louis contemplated in Twist’s general direction, motioning to the circles on the enlarged map of the island. “Do they have some sort of tracker in them?”  
  
Twist hummed, “Of course, it’s just a safety precaution.” He glided across the room, standing to the side of the monitor. “It allows us to see which animal is where at whatever time period of the day.”  
  
“We know how many are in the Birdcage, the Rex paddock, the raptor house, etc,” His older hand skimmed along the map, drawing attention to each section he described.  
  
Each space was lit up and lively except one though, a smaller area located around the front of the tour. He assumed it could only have been the empty paddock they drove by earlier in the tour.  
  
His curiosity got the best of him, leaving him motioning over the the darkened space with his pointer finger. “What’s that area supposed to be? How come there are no trackers there?”  
  
“Oh,” Recognition rested on the older man’s features as he spoke fluidly, “That’s paddock 9. It’s offline until it’s repairs are complete. And there are currently no animals inhabiting it.”  
  
That couldn’t be possible, because just earlier as they passed by the unlively fences he did spot something moving about in the dense grasses. It wasn’t something he cooked up in his imagination, because he definitely recalled seeing a lengthy little tail.  
  
“Are you sure?” He doubted, brows pinching together in uncertainty. “Because I swore I saw….”  
  
“You saw what?” He was interrupted as Twist faced him.  
  
“I’m not sure, but I think that paddock might not be as empty as you think,” Louis looked to Harry who looked just as puzzled as his grandfather.  
  
“Sorry to interrupt, but did you say you saw movement in paddock 9?” It was the purple-haired worker, Louis shifted to her and nodded before she continued.  
  
“Mr. Twist, do you think that could be the parasaurolophus? We’ve already lost her tracker once this month.”  
  
Twist began to stumble over his word as he took in Louis and Ben’s bewildered expressions. But the woman kept going, pulling a live video feed up on the screen, presumably from the paddock in question. She swiped her painted nails along the touch screen track pad, the feed swiveling with her movements.  
  
“Ah, there she is!” She exclaimed, zooming in on the animal that was nestled peacefully at the bed of a murky pond between two palm trees.  
  
Twist let out an exasperated sigh, “How the hell does she keep getting out like that?”  
  
“With all due respect sir, the plans for submerging the fencing were sent to you weeks ago. She’s only going to keep escaping if we don’t secure that pond as well.”  
  
Louis’ mind reeled with everything he knew about the parasaurolophus, they were herbivores and existed mostly in the Mesozoic era. And as to what he saw on the live feed, the dinosaur seemed to be in a middle stage of infant and adult. Louis felt his rise of panic subdue as he came to terms that the animal wasn’t capable of endangering anyone. Well, anyone other than herself.  
  
“You’re very right, Ms. Edwards. And I will start on that project first thing Monday morning.” He ran a hand through his thinning hair, much like he’d seen Harry do a few times, “Lord, it feels like the closer June gets the more park renovations seem to pile up.”     
  
Louis almost felt bad for the old man, because he was right. From what he’d seen the park still needed a lot of work to be done if they were going to open any time in the current year.  
  
“Mr.Twist, I can call someone working nearby to relocated her back in the right paddock,” The worker spoke, already reaching for a walkie talkie she’s set on Nick’s desk.  
  
Twist stirred from his short-lived glumness and looked up at her, face already back to smiling.  
  
“No, I think that’ll be alright. I was going to suggest Keith go since he did it so flawlessly last time,” the third worker Louis had greeted turned in his seat at the sound of his name.  
  
“Are you sure, Mr. Twist? Wouldn’t it be quicker to let someone who’s already there get her? It might take a while for me to find her, she could move somewhere else by the time I do.”  
  
Twist shook his head, insistent, “You’ll be fine Keith,” He straightened up like he’d just thought of something, “Dr. Tomlinson! You should accompany Keith. It’ll give you good field experience, a chance to get familiar with the park from the inside.”  
  
Louis lit up at the offer. He had been itching to interact with more of the animals since that morning in the labs. “I think that’d be a great idea. If I’m going to be working here I might as well embrace the park a bit more,” he nodded his agreement.  
  
He saw Harry lift a hand up to his side, he interjected with a, “Would it be ok if I tagged along?” He gave a self deprecating smile, “I was just going to try out the hot tub in my en suite after the tour. But, this sounds much more exciting.”  
  
“Of course, the more the merrier!” Twist said patting his grandson on the back before leading them back towards the door.  
  
Harry stayed back so he could fall into step with Louis, their hands brushing as they followed the two men in front of them.  
  
“I can’t imagine why you’d pick trudging around in this humidity over soaking in one of those hot tubs, I bet yours is even diamond encrusted.” Louis teased him as they made their way out into the shade of the towering trees.  
  
“We’re going to find a dinosaur, Louis. A dinosaur.” Harry replied as he pulled his hair into a bun and wrapped it with an elastic, illuminating the swell of his cheekbones and his sturdy jaw. “Also,” he continued staring ahead with a soft smile pulling at his lips, “my hot tub wouldn’t be any fun without anyone to share it with.”  
  
“Are you suggesting I join you in a hot tub?” Louis asked, amusement flooding his tone as he hushed his voice so the men walking in front of them weren’t privy to their conversation.  
  
“Well, you seem a little tense. The water would do wonders for your back muscles.” He even went as far as to grab Louis by his shoulders and massage them a bit to prove his point.  
  
Before Louis could come to terms that Harry was not only touching him, but kneading his hands into his shoulders, Harry kept talking. He prayed that Twist and Keith wouldn’t turn around to witness such an inappropriate display.  
  
“I took a class in Ibiza once, I know all sorts of massages. I could test some out on you when we get back to the hotel,” he lowered his voice, “hot tub or not.”  
  
A flare of heat washed over Louis’ chest. He tried to regulate his breathing and scoffed, turning his head around to meet Harry’s gaze. He smirked when he saw the look Harry was giving him beneath hooded eyes.  
  
A loud cough caused Louis to step out from under Harry’s hold. His looked up to see Twist and Keith standing by one of the jeeps, connected to it was a cage on wheels.  
  
Blood rushed up to Louis’ face as he saw Twist’s curious eyes switch between the two, the worker standing next to him looked off to side disinterested.  
  
“You guys should get going soon, before she decides to start roaming around again.”  
  
They slid into the jeep, under the heavily scrutinizing gaze of the owner, his body shrinking ever so slowly in the distance with shouts of, “Bring her back in one piece!”, before he was gone completely and they were on the road. Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So be prepared the next chapter shit is going to hit the fan :))) also this is the last time lilo will see each other for a while rip :(


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello once more :)) sorry we lied about the update we were busy as fuck and I moved into college last week so it's been hectic. But here's my fave chapter so far and we're going to try our best to update more often before school really picks up but if not it'll probs be like once a month/three weeks when we have time. Enjoy! -Hayley
> 
> Also, warnings for minor character death.

**_Earlier that day._ **

**_Control Room._ **

 

"What's the progress," the grainy voice projected from the earpiece Jeff had connected to his phone.

The sun had barely risen and Jeff was finding himself knee-deep in the park's security coding. So far he had gotten through most of the firewalls, all of which he had programmed himself.

"I'm almost at the gate codes," He replied distractedly, dropping his voice so Nick wouldn’t hear him, even if he was currently clear on the other side of the room. He was in the zone, feeling a bit like a double agent. Which is exactly what he was if he thought about it. Except, this wasn't a time to project any of his childhood fantasies. Not when what he was doing was very serious, and very important to his name.

"That's my boy. It's all been leading up to this, Jeffery, we're finally going to set Edward straight."

Jeff tried to tune out the rambling of the phone, it wasn't anything he hadn't heard before. He'd had similar phone calls all month as he tried to get close enough to the security files to finalize the plan.

He hummed his acknowledgment though and went back to furiously typing away while the voice droned on.

"I can't have you failing this time. Not again, you hear me?"

Jeff felt a sting of frustration boil in his chest. Every time he got close enough to enter the codes, something or someone would interrupt him and force him to hastily exit the system. It was never his fault but he always had to endure the heat afterwards. He wasn't just doing this to prove himself to others, he needed to prove it to himself that he was capable of not being a disappointment.

After his anger simmered out all that was left were the remnants of what he discovered to be guilt. Guilt he shouldn’t be feeling if it was up to the owner of the voice in his ear.

Maybe, Jeff really wasn’t made for this. He was raised learning a set of ideals, he knew the insides and outsides of everything his name stood for, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to punch in a simple code.

He sighed and hit enter and watched as his computer screen flickered  to the final page. The white lines of endless coding reflected across the gleam in his eyes.

“I’m in,” he murmured trying not to cringe at the gleeful shout that came from the voice on the other end of the line.

His palms began to sweat as he reached for his usb drive, arm shaking too much that it took him three tries to secure the drive into the back of his monitor. He gulped.

It was simple; download the codes then insert them into place, run through the confirmation passwords, and wait for the changes to take place. The last part would take a while, a few hours or so considering the number of fences he would be reprogramming. Jeff could do it in his sleep.

It was never skill he was lacking, no. It was that gut instinct, that determination his bloodline was known for. He was known as a flake within the community. But what he was about to pull, it would finally be the game changer he was hoping for. He would be rightfully respected for his work, he would no longer be a disappointment.

Brimming with those thoughts, Jeff moved his hands deftly over the keyboard. That was going to be it. After he finalized the sequences, he would have just a little under thirty minutes to get out and onto the weekend boat to the mainland before the million’s of dollars of hard work and lifetime achievement would crumbled beneath Edward Twist’s feet.

“Jeff my good man, how’s the reprogramming coming along?” Came from across the room as Nick glanced up from his own work station. “Can we manage to get most of the bugs out before Twist arrives?”

Jeff sighed internally. He wanted to laugh at the man before him, because he honestly had no idea what was to come later. His eyes remained fixed on the computer screen while he typed a series of random codes that only a hacker like himself could decipher.

“Yes sir,” He spoke around the cup of coffee lifted to his lips. “I’m almost done here, and it should be all good when I leave for the weekend.”

“Good, because our boss is going to be here in less than five minutes and if he sees something wrong he’s going to skin me alive for not telling him.”

Jeff gave him a tight lipped smile before turning back to his screen. His hands felt clammier now that he knew Twist was approaching. He didn’t want to rush himself, hacking into a security system and messing with all the codes was not something one just rushed, but the quiet ticking of the clock nailed to the wall above him was incessant.

Two minutes and ten lines of code later, the park’s founder was strutting high and mighty through the front doors. He always had an air of superiority surrounding him and his every step, the way his shoulders pushed back and his nose stuck up, as if to not touch the filthy ground everyone else walked on. It was unnerving and Jeff always had a distaste for people like that.

“Morning, boys,” He greeted them as he made his way towards the main control panel. He did it every morning since the control room went up to check all paddocks that were under surveillance. “Everything good in the park this morning?”

Jeff froze. His mind reeled with thoughts that the man knew what he was up to, his pulse quickening in his ears. Then he remembered that it was a question Twist asked him and Nick every morning seeing as they were the first in the park and all. He let out the breath he had been holding and turned to see Twist leaning over Nick’s monitor discussing something.

He didn’t know how long he’d have before Twist decided to check up on what was being displayed on his monitor. He couldn’t just switch tabs this time; the codes were already loading into the system and exiting the page would just delete all the progress. He had to go through with it, there wasn’t any backing out now.

Jeff flexed his aching fingers and prayed to any god out there that the codes would be completed before Twist got the idea to move onto him. He heard the two other men closing up their conversation and felt panic rise like bile up his throat. The green bar in the middle of his screen was still only at 67%.

“What about that archaeologist, you said he was coming today?” Nick’s voice drifted as he questioned Twist.

Good, maybe that would keep him distracted and the codes would load before Twist could see anything.

 “You know his name, Grimshaw. Dr. Tomlinson and Dr. Payne are on their tour as we speak,” Twist replied with an optimistic edge to his tone, “hopefully we impress that pair enough that they take the jobs.”

Nick scoffed, “Of course they’ll take the jobs, Mr. Twist. This is Jurassic Park we’re talking about. They’d be daft to do anything other than accept.”

“That Tomlinson though, I get the feeling he doesn’t like me.” The man said it with such a sad lilt you’d think earning the respect of an archaeologist in his late twenties was one of Twist’s aspirations in life.

“Oh c’mon, Mr. Twist. You’re a very respectable man, I’m sure he likes you fine. He wouldn’t be on that tour if he really hated you.” Nick gave a thoughtful look before continuing, “but you could always check in and see if he’s talking shi- I mean making not so nice comments about you.”

“What do you mean?”

Instead of replying Nick turned back to his monitor and typed away for a few seconds. The result was a visual of the inside of one the cars being used for the tour blown up to fit the main screen of the control room. Jeff tore his eyes away from the slow moving green bar on his screen to see Dr. Tomlinson and who he recognized as Twist’s grandson. 

Twist voice was in semi-confusion when he asked, “When did we get those?”

“Last week,” Nick replied easily, mousing over the image of two younger men sitting with their thighs pressed together and laughing. “We had Niall and his team install them just to keep an eye on the visitors when the actual park opens. Just to make sure they are keeping out of trouble in there.”

Twist made an impressed noise, “Good on your thinking, Nick. But I’m afraid you forgot to install a speaker.”

Nick quickly pressed another set of buttons and then the room was filling with the sound of wheels crunching on dirt paths and a pair of laughing voices. 

 _“I refuse to believe dinosaurs had the stamina as a teenage boy.”_ Spoke the gentleman with longer curls spilling over his shoulders.

The smaller one just laughed, _“It’s true, even the manliest of them lasted about as long as a good sneeze.”_

_“I still don’t believe you. I’m not that gullible.”_

_“Fine,”_ the doctor snickered, throwing his arms up in defeat. _“I was going to say, ‘We’ll just have to see then,’ but I remembered all the dinosaurs are female, so likely not. Unless any of them are into that, which, while we have no documentation on homosexuality in dinosaurs, could be the case.”_

_“Right, we should never erase the feelings these lovely ladies might have for each other.”_

They both grinned as Dr. Tomlinson nodded his head in agreement. Soon after, their attention was caught by something they must have seen out the window if their gasps of awe were anything to go by. 

Nick whistled, fingers carding through his high quiff. “That Tomlinson is quite the looker, isn’t he?”

The other two pairs of eyes turned to him. Twist gave him a bemused but questioning look.

“I mean, he has an impressive career and all,” he backtracked weakly. His shoulders dropped and he sighed, “Mr. Twist, you don’t happen to know what side he plays for do you?”

Even from where Jeff was sitting he could see Twist’s eyebrow raise, and if it wasn’t for the impending doom he had just programmed into the park’s security he would have been finding the situation comical. He tuned out the rest of the conversation when he heard a notification pop up on his screen.

_Please enter the passcode to confirm changes made on this computer._

Jeff blanked for a moment. The park had all sorts of passcodes to get into certain areas of the coding. He had created most of them himself so that only he and Twist, who had a copy of the list of passcodes, would be able to access some of the most important areas that controlled the park. Twist never used them of course, he simply supervised while everyone else did the work.

Jeff pulled out the file that contained the passcodes, chastising himself for not memorizing them like a good programmer would do. He scanned the list for security and found the five digit number towards the end.

Breathing heavily now, he punched in the numbers and watched as the green bar moved from 99% to 100%. The screen flashed once before returning to the home screen.

He exhaled the air trapped in his lungs shakily, dabbing a bit of perspiration that had gathered by his temples at the same time, trying to play it off so it didn’t look suspicious. He didn’t think it would, since he had worked his way up to one of the most prestigious and trusted positions.

The hard part was over; getting the self-implanted bugs in the fences and redoing all the coding he spent years piecing together, as well as dismantling each and every camera inside the paddocks and replacing the live feeds with some footage he stealthily recorded over the last few weeks (which would kick in after he left). The easy part now, was to shut everything down and erase his very presence from the island, then catch the ferry back to the mainland and be rid of everything Jurassic Park forever. 

Clunky footsteps sounded behind him, and he yanked the usb out of it’s port before anyone took notice. He pulled open the park’s security page, pretending to go about his normal routines at this time as the expensive cologne of his “boss” wafted through his nostrils.

“All good, Jeff?” Twist asked calling him by his first name, he’d been working with Twist for so long, probably longer than anyone who was involved with the park, that they had reached a sense of familiarity between the two. Jeff was probably someone Twist trusted the most when it concerned his beloved park, yet in few hours Jeff doubted the man would still be feeling that way.

“Yes, all good. Everything’s working as it should, nothing is going wrong, everything is fine.” He cringed at the nervousness that engulfed his being and made his voice sound unsure.

Twist gave him a weird look that lasted a few seconds before throwing his head back in a laugh, “Were you always this funny, Jeff?”

Jeff blinked at him trying to recover, “uh, I must be getting better with age…” He trailed off as Twist laughed some more. He blinked rapidly as relief flooded his veins.  

Once Twist’s chuckles ceased he turned back to Jeff with a look of inquiry, but right before he could ask anymore on the status of the park Nick interrupted,

“Sir, the guests are standing outside. Looks to me like the can’t seem to find the entrance.”

Nick was right, on the main screen Dr. Tomlinson, Twist’s grandson, and another man who Jeff was told earlier was a lawyer stood in front of the building.  Jeff noticed that the other doctor, Dr. Payne, was missing from the group.

But he didn’t have time to worry about history making paleobotanists, the clock above his desk stating he only had about an hour before the next boat was scheduled to leave. And if Jeff calculated the time correctly he would have to hurry if he wanted to be on that boat.

 

* * *

 

  ** _Present Time_**

**_Control Room_ **

 

As soon as Twist returned from walking Keith, Dr. Tomlinson, and his grandson to the battered jeep, he plopped down in an unoccupied seat on the right side of the grand monitor. Nick and Perrie were both at their respective stations, Nick typing away and Perrie still monitoring the parasaurolophus that had escaped it’s paddock.

The small animal was still curled up snoozing under the shade of a tree, but if he had learned anything about the creatures it was to expect the unexpected when it came to them. Sure, they had all sorts of programs and systems to control the animals but they would never have full control on the power of nature, he knew that. Any movement around her and the dinosaur on screen would go running in a different direction, or in her case swimming.

“Mr. Winston,” Twist directed in the vague direction of his lawyer. “How is everything so far?”

Ben didn’t look at him, opting for staring at one of the smaller screens on a table. “Everything seems… stimulating, I’d say. I still don’t know what our case is going to be exactly against the dead worker’s family, just so you know.”

This wasn’t something he wanted to think about, much less talk about right now. “Well, we have an entire weekend to build something up here, don’t we?”

“I don’t know how we are going to do that, Edward. I mean, the park looks safe and secure from what I’ve seen so far, but I’m not the one who needs convincing.”

“We’ll talk more tonight then, after I deal with this,” the older man voiced, placing a hand on Ben’s shoulder. “How about I get my remaining staff to treat you to dinner and a relaxing hot stone massage while you wait?”

And there it was, the somewhat manipulative aura that was Edward Twist, making sure to get you on his good side to where you’d be eating out of the palm of his hand.

Ben looked at him impressively with a hint of a smirk on his lips, “Are you trying to schmooze me, Mr. Twist?”

“No, no!” He exclaimed, tugging the lawyer towards the door and pulling out his phone. “I’d never. I just want to make sure the best lawyer representing me is getting the best treatment is all. God knows we need you relaxed enough to put together a winning appeal.”

Twist hit the keys on his phone and Ben only scoffed at the affections that were trying way too hard to be compliments. “Fair enough.”

“I’ve just sent for a driver to take you back to the resort and I’m setting up your massage as we speak.”

In only a few short minutes, a driver rolled up to the door of the control room, and with a shy smile, Ben was off to dive into luxury.

He walked back into the room silently, setting himself back down in the chair he was occupying.

“So Perrie,” Twist sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. He waited until she looked up at him to continue, “Explain what we are going to do about this exactly?”

She fiddled with a strand of violet hair that curled around her ear, biting her lip in thought. “Well sir, as of now, the gate between paddocks eight and nine at the pond are separated by the fence above the water, because we didn’t want any electrical currents running through the pond that could endanger the animals.” She took a long breathe, calculating her words before bringing her attention back to the screen in front of her.

“We -and the trainers- didn’t think they were mature enough to swim far enough down to reach the other side of the fence. But she surprised us for sure. We have the plans for a titanium fence to be added into the pond, which go along with the other repairs for the paddock before it opens.”

“What is wrong with her tracker then?”

Perrie sighed, facing her boss once more. “The chip must be faulty. It’s rare, but it does happen. That, or she got in a scuffle and it got ripped out by accident. The parasaurolophus can get somewhat violent with each other when they are younger, establishing dominance and territory and whatnot.”

He hummed, adjusting himself in his chair. Just what they needed, another problem to add onto the list of other problems they had piling up. The June opener date was looking almost unlikely at this point.

“I can schedule for some of the trainers to bring her in for a check up,” Perrie suggested, tapping her polished nails against the computer desk. “Dr. Calder can asses the old chip, if it’s still there, and then get a new one implanted.”

“Is she available today?” Twist questioned. The sooner they got her checked out and back in her paddock the better.

“No,” came from Nick surprisingly, Twist almost forgetting he was in the room with them. He was always quiet, seen and not heard. “The lab is shutting down for the weekend. Her and the rest of the lab will be leaving on the boat for the mainland in an hour.”

This put him in such a difficult position. In one scenario, he thought it was unlikely that the dinosaur would escape another time this weekend, but in the other, he saw her risking another trip over into paddock nine until her tracker was replaced and the fences were taken care of. They’d just have to go with it until the doctor came back on Tuesday.

Twist was tired. He just wanted to get everything over and done with already so he could showcase his greatest achievement to the world. “Set up an appointment with Dr. Calder for next week then, please.”

Perrie gave a “Yes sir,” while motioning back towards her monitor screen.

The noise in the room died down after that, Perrie typing away and Twist gnawing on his thumb nail.

It seemed impossibly quiet right before it happened. Right before a low hum buzzed from the giant monitor at the front of the room, which caught the ears of the three individuals, sitting still with nervous eyes.

“Grimmy what did you do this time?” Perrie asked over the broken sounds.

Nick scoffed, not knowing why she would insinuate such a thing. “I’m afraid I haven’t done anything, love.”

It sounded just like the ringing noise that emitted from a laptop after too many keys were pressed at once. They all shared a confused look, Perrie mouthing a ‘Wtf?’ at Nick, only to receive an unknowing shrug in reply.

The look on Twist’s face conveyed that he had no idea what was going on either, but he motioned to both of his workers to somehow fix it on their computers, both removing themselves from their stunned reverie to attach their hands to the keys.

He didn’t know what was happening or why, he just knew that that was never a good sign, and that they needed to fix it immediately.

“I’ll just try and reboot the screen real fast,” Nick said, carefully clicking through the folders on his desktop until he found the one labeled ‘Control Room’. Hastily, he opened it, and pushed down on the restart button. Hopefully the screen would come back on without a hitch.

As quickly as the noise started, it was swept away, both Perrie and Twist etting out relieved breaths when the huge screen flickered off for a fraction of a second.

“Okay, that was weird,” Nick began, rubbing a hand down the back of his neck. He pulled it back, finding a hint of sweat glistening his fingers from his nerves. He wiped it on the back of his pants before facing his boss. “But it should be fine once it comes back on.”

“I wonder what caused it?” Twist wondered, sitting back down in the dent he made in his chair.

“Well Jeff said-” Nick clamped his mouth shut. He forgot that they didn’t mention to Twist that there was a small bug in some of the fences, and he was sure if he said something now he would get into trouble. He tried to ignore Twist’s heavy gaze, instead focusing on the dots spinning along the screen while it processed the start up.

“Jeff said what, Mr. Grimshaw?”

He was so getting fired after this, but he knew lying would make it worse for him in the end. “Well sir, Jeff told me that there was some sort of coding error involved with the fences, and that a couple of times this week a few of the fences’ power would cut off for a brief moment before coming right back on.” He sensed Twist’s irritation a mile away by the way his eyebrows rose nearly to his receding hairline. “It wasn’t a problem at all,” he scrambled over himself to reassure his boss that there really wasn’t anything to worry about. “Jeff fixed it a little while ago during the tour. But he told me that after there could be some very minor setbacks, like a glitch here or there while the fences were being fixed, overall nothing to think twice on.”

That seemed to put his boss at ease for a moment, although he still looked puzzled at the revelation. “And you didn’t think this necessary to tell me?”

“I, uh..” Nick stuttered, hoping he wasn’t diving headfirst into the termination of the greatest jobs he’s ever had. “Of course it was necessary sir, but I didn’t want to stress you out anymore than you already were. And like I said, Jeff already fixed it with little repercussions, much luckier than we’ve had with other projects.”

Because there were worse things that have happened than a monitor glitching after a major problem with the park was fixed. Like when the phones were knocked out for a while after the whole system had to be rebooted, and even when a worker has lost an arm here and there out in the field trying to debug the areas.

Twist seemed to take his answer, nodding his head and returning his gaze to the screen before him, which had just started to reload.

Nick and Perrie did the same, relaxing a few minutes while all of their programs loaded on the screen.

The map loaded first, hundreds of red dots blinking up from the screen in each paddock, save for the one labeled nine. It was followed by the camera feeds, each square visual popping up in their designated place on the screen.

The noise was gone thankfully, and Nick gave himself a mental pat on the back for doing another job well done. He was about to take a sip from his mostly cold coffee he almost forgot about, when a shriek from Perrie caused him to jump out of his skin.

He looked over towards her station, where she was frantically moving her mouse along the mouse pad. “What’s up, Pez?” By the look on her face Nick sensed that the answer would be anything but good.

Her mouth fell open, “The para is gone?” It came out more of a question than a statement. Nick looked towards the screen as well, there was nothing but the grass, rocks, and palm trees, no dinosaur in sight.

“Where did it go?” He asked.

Perrie looked livid, brushing the hair away from her face as she flipped from one camera in the paddock to another, and then another, still no dinosaur in sight. “It couldn’t have gone back to it’s enclosure that fast. That’s at least a ten minute walk away, and the monitor wasn’t down for that long.”

“Check the feeds for paddock eight,” their boss suggested.

“Right, right.” The purpled-haired beauty mumbled, as if she forgot it was an option.

She switched over to the other paddock’s feeds. The first shot was empty, and only a few trees could be seen. The second was the same. Each paddock only had about six cameras, some had more depending on the size of the land and animal, and as Perrie checked all six they found the paddock to be as parasaurolophus-less as the other, except of course for the ones they weren’t currently looking for.

This time Nick felt as panicked as Perrie, a rouge dinosaur in the park was something they had prepared for but not something he had expected would actually happen. Their security system was the finest in the world. They’ve had glitches in the fence before, so the ones Jeff had just smoothed over earlier couldn’t have flawed the whole system, could they? 

The trio sat in silence as Perrie double checked the six cameras.

“You don’t think she could have gotten out of the paddock, right?” Twist asked the two workers, not moving his eyes away from the switching feeds on the screen.

Nick wasn’t sure he could answer that question without upsetting the man. While it was okay for Perrie and him to go into a frenzy over the missing dinosaur, he felt like the last thing the park needed was a panicked founder. The last few months Nick had noticed that Twist was rather impulsive, it was even a trait of his that contributed to the existence of the park, upsetting the man might not work in their favor if it were to happen. Besides, he was already stressed as it was he didn’t need another thing to beat himself up over. 

“No, of course not. The fences are incredibly secure, she’s probably just hidden somewhere under all that foliage…” Nick tried to soothe, “it’s not like electricity powering the fences went out or anything, that sounds about impossible considering the park’s programming.”

There, he had not only helped Twist to relax again but also inflated his ego for the time being. The man liked nothing more than being complimented on his success. Nick watched him nod seriously like Nick’s words were very important.

“No, yeah, that would be absurd-”

“Um, something’s not right here,” Perrie interrupted, her voice heavy with confusion. The two other pairs of eyes turned to hers.

“What do you mean?” Twist asked.

She mouses over the screen of the feeds for a different paddock, paddock five, where the triceratops were. All that they could see was a teenage trike who was fondly eating with a few adolescents who were play fighting with each other. A few seconds later an even bigger triceratops emerged from the brush behind them, and she made a show of rough housing with the teenager, so much that she pushed her away from the babies.

She stared frozen at the screen, her face pallid and eyes wide in what Nick recognized as fear. “I’ve seen that before.”

“Seen what before, Pez?” Nick stuttered.

The woman before him licked her lips, staring dumbfounded at the sight before her. “That! That whole sequence of events exactly! A few days ago I watched as those two played with each other and then the bigger one came out and got defensive over them.”

The two men turned their gazes to the screen above. “How is that even possible?” Came from one of them, sounding breathless.

There was no possible way that those were the same animals she saw earlier in the week. Not unless they were fighting again in the same way at this very moment, which was very unlikely. Something didn’t feel right.

“Has someone tampered with the feeds?” She trembled, the sense of fear growing in her voice.

Nick clicked on another folder on his desktop labeled ‘security files’, opening it up to the parks advanced security system. There was no way someone would be able to get into their programs and rewrite anything; they would be alerted to threats like that.

He opened the files anyway, feeling the space next to him be filled with the two bodies of Twist and Perrie. Their breaths were warm on the back of his neck and he felt even more anxious than he did before.

Another series of folders flooded his screen, the tan documents contrasting to the green of the actual program.

He opened the ones that held all the codes for the cameras, his mouse ghosting over the lines of letters and numbers that was programed for each camera in the park. His eyes widened when he caught a glimpse of the next line of code:

  _Paddock One_

_Camera One: OFFLINE_

Perrie gasped from behind him, and Twist made a noncommittal noise in his ear. He continued to scroll until he found the next:

  _Paddock One_

_Camera Two: OFFLINE_

  _Paddock One_

_Camera Three: OFFLINE_

“What the hell?” Twist nearly shouted, glancing back up at the screen before them. “How are they off if we can clearly see they’re on right now?”

Neither Nick nor Perrie knew how to answer that. Theoretically speaking, it was impossible. “I don’t know sir.” He breathed. He continued to look through the file, concluding that every camera had been turned off, which was impossible. What was even more impossible was that while the cameras were off, they were somehow getting footage which made it look like they were still on.

“I think Perrie maybe right about what we’re seeing being old footage,” Nick remarked, rubbing at his temples. “But I don’t understand why, or how.” What he really means is, how did it slip in under his watch?

The room was dead silent, the only sounds heard were the ragged breathing of the three who stood stock still in bewilderment.

There was only one question on their minds at the moment, and Perrie was the first to voice it, “Why would someone shut off the cameras and replace it with footage from a while ago?”

The answer was obvious, but he didn’t want to say it out loud, at least not yet. It still didn’t seem possible. But eventually it got the best of him.

“Someone didn’t want us to see something.”

What that was, he didn’t know.

“Is there anyway you can get the feeds back up?” Twist asked him then, his hint of nervousness now gone and replaced by a calm demeanor.

It would be long, hard, and draining to get all of them up together. That’s thousands of lines of code he’d have to go through just to get them up and running. “We can try. It’ll take a long time because we’d have to rewrite the security codes one by one, and each camera has about two hundred lines of code.”

Twist let out an exasperated whine, scrubbing his hands over the wrinkled lines that painted his face. “Fine, whatever it takes. Both of you do that and start with the feeds in paddock nine, while I try to figure out what the hell is going on in my park.”

“Of course,” Perrie and Nick get out frantically, each jumping into their own workstation a furiously typing away on their computers.

It took nearly half an hour to get the first camera up and running, and by the time they did, there was no sign of Dr. Tomlinson, Harry, Keith, or the parasaurolophus.

Twist stepped closer to screen to view the now correct footage on the screen, eyes squinting furiously as he scanned the area.

Perrie was back to turning the camera around to view more of the paddock while Nick broke out in a little sweat as he moved onto encoding the next camera.

“What is that?” Twist inquired, pointing at an area on the screen that displayed a section of the fence that separated the paddocks. It was unclear, but it looked like a little gap, and as luck would have it, the camera didn’t turn that far, so there was no way to get a good view. What they could see though, was a few wires sticking out, with what looked like bite marks.

“It almost looks like something chewed it off,” Nick guessed, peering at the screen. “That’s not possible though, those fences have ten thousand volts running through them. They’d be barbeque at this point.”

“Oh my god,” Perrie gasped, voice tensing with what Nick recognized as fear, causing the other two men to flinch. She directed their gazes away from her back to the monitor, zooming in on a little grey box that stuck out midway on the fence.

Not a single sound was emitted at the sight that they’d never expected to see, Perrie covering her mouth and Twist left shocked in his place with his mouth gaping.

The little grey box, normally with the green light lit up, indicating the fences were on, was now red, which meant-

“Tell Keith to turn that jeep around, right now.” 

* * *

 

 

**_Raptor Enclosure_ **

 

“Wait turn that piece around, I think I saw something,” Zayn maneuvered the rather large feces over in his hand.

On any other day, Zayn Malik would not be caught dead rifling through velociraptor shit. But somehow a pair of earnest chocolate eyes had convinced him into assisting the search. The minute Zayn had slipped on a pair of heavy duty gloves and crouched down in front of the brown pile he knew he was fucked.

Despite his sudden revelation he had stayed and helped Dr. Payne break open the pieces of crap. One that he had just been about to place into their pile of feces that didn’t contain anything.

Liam moved closer to his and reached from behind him to inspect the piece in Zayn’s hand. His arm was basically caging Zayn in, if he moved he’d be stepping into the abhorrent pile that sat on his other side.

“I think I see a plant in there,” Liam whispered scooting even closer to get a better look.

Zayn chanced a look at him to see the concentration lining his features, his eyes were squinted under the deep v of his eyebrows, his jaw set tightly. Zayn stopped breathing for a few seconds, before he regained his composure and looked back at his hand.

Right next to Zayn’s thumb was a green stem protruding through the brown mass. Zayn rubbed his thumb against it to wipe some of the matter off. It was the fourth plant they’d found, meaning that if what the velociraptor ate is what was harming her, then she ate plenty of it. Zayn hoped it wouldn’t be too serious. So far, none of his raptors had died on him and he intended to keep it that way.

“Do you want me to take it out, or should we keep it like this for the lab?” Zayn asked trying to keep his hands still so the piece wouldn’t fall apart.

“We should keep it that way for the lab, yeah” Liam replied as his gloved fingers broke off excess parts.

Zayn nodded and made to move back so he could place the feces in the tray they’d been collecting plants in, but he simply moved farther into Liam’s space. Zayn froze as he felt Liam’s chest align with the whole of his back, it was alarming how Liam practically engulfed Zayn’s slim frame. It was also kind of hot.

“Right, I’m just gonna,” Zayn tried to turn in the direction opposite the poop and Liam took the hint.

“Right,” he replied as he leaned back and stood up, even going as far to take a step backwards to make some space between he and Zayn.

Zayn repressed the urge to roll his eyes at how his cheeks flared up. He cleared his throat and stood, looking anywhere but Liam as he walked around the paleobotanist and toward the tray.

If he had looked up he’d see that Liam was hosting similarly tinted cheeks.

They finished up with the droppings a few moments after. Liam declaring they’d found more than enough plants to identify what was causing that sort of reaction in the raptors. He really hoped they’d get this sorted out sooner than later. Zayn spent all day from nine am to six pm looking after these animals. And although he really tried not to, he had gotten quite attached to them and seeing one of his girls in pain turned him into a worried mother. 

They were just so smart and fascinating to watch. Everyone misjudged them as evil creatures that could tear you limb from limb, and sure that wasn’t necessarily false, but nobody seemed to appreciate their complexity as much as Zayn did.

That hadn’t always been the case, though. When Twist first approached him with the job offer Zayn had been trekking through central and peninsular India for a vulture conservation effort with the Zoological Society of London. There he’d been made head of the team and in charge of all the birds they’d been monitoring. That was what Zayn was good at, tracking. Making sure everything he was put in responsibility for got what it needed and was where it had to be no matter the number. After college Zayn had worked himself up the ranks of the ZSL, he’d done amazing things for all types of birds of prey, which were his specialty. He had become a sort of celebrity in the zoological world of scientists, if he says so himself.

So, you could only imagine the surprise on his face when the flap of his tent was whipped open to reveal the man making all the headlines at the time. Edward Twist had sat down with him and explained his vision, told him how they needed him for a specific job, and that it would be an opportunity of lifetime. Zayn was wary, because how was he supposed to use his skills with birds on living breathing velociraptors. But, as he thought about it more he connected the similarities between the two species, they were both fatally clever. 

Now months later, he was here doing the job people would kill to have. He took pride in his title as the Raptor Expert and preened a little every morning as he attached his ID to his work shirt.

And sure, he dealt with carnivorous animals that could skin a fully grown cow in under four minutes every day, but nothing had prepared him for dealing with one Liam Payne.

“-and we’ve known each other for ages and I’ve never seen him this relaxed. It’s like all the tension he’d built up for his dislike of Mr. Twist just disappeared.”

Zayn nodded along, trying not to lose himself in the way Liam’s voice lilted on certain words or deepened on others. They were on their way back to the control room, Zayn driving while Liam provided conversation in the passenger’s seat.

“It’s not every day a paleontologist’s wet dream comes true,” Zayn replied easily, steering the jeep left in the direction of the control room. Conversation was easy with Liam, everything seemed to feel easy with Liam. “it’s probably been distracting him.”

A snort came to his right, “are you talking about Harry?”

This time Zayn laughed, “Not exactly, I was referring to the fact that he gets to see clones of the species you and him have spent your lives digging up.”

Zayn cocked his head to the side, thinking. “But now that you mention it, I did notice something between them. More sexual tension than I’ve ever needed to be in the same room with, if I’m honest.”

“You have no idea,” Liam said exasperated, “I begged off from sharing a car with them. Even as Louis’ best friend there’s only so much eyefucking I can take, you know?”

Zayn hummed his agreement before clearing his throat, eyes still on the dirt path ahead of him as he said, “It’s funny, I thought you two were actually a couple when I first saw you. You always seem to be introduced as partners.”

The car was quiet the seconds after Zayn’s comment, seconds in which he spent cursing himself and whatever was going on with his brain that made him say that. He shifted his gaze at Liam, certain he’d somehow fucked up, only to find the man’s face scrunched up in repressed laughter.

The amount of relief that ran over him like cold water made Zayn raised an unimpressed eyebrow at Liam, “What?”

That seemed to break a dam, and Zayn’s chest swelled at the sweet tinkling sounds of Liam giggling. There was literally nothing he could do to stop the corners of his mouth from rising.

“No, it’s just we get that a lot. Even though we haven’t seen each other like that for about six years now,” Liam said once he recovered.

Zayn tried to keep his face neutral at the information. He knew there was some truth to the speculation. They were both attractive men, Zayn wouldn’t blame them. The six years part comforted him for some reason, but it wasn’t any of Zayn’s business anyway so he quelled the comfort and turned back to Liam with an easy grin.

Liam met his eyes, and then averted his eyes before asking, “So what about you, then,” he cleared his throat, “Have anyone to share uncomfortable amounts of sexual tension with?”

Subtle, Zayn thought. The comment surprised a laugh from him, “No, not at the moment.”

He saw Liam slowly nodding in the corner of his eye, “Me neither.”

Zayn had to purse his mouth to the side to stop the smirk that threatened to break loose, “Cool.”

“Cool.”

Zayn sighed contentedly as he felt Liam’s eyes on him. The moment of serenity was disrupted by the loud crack of thunder that rattled the windows of the jeep.

It was like that single noise started up a chain reaction; not a second later were the spaces between the canopy of trees being replaced by dark clouds that plunged the area into semi-darkness, rain immediately began to pelt the roof and windows of the car making it hard to see even a foot in front of them.

“Woah,” Liam expressed as Zayn slowed the car to a stop, “does that happen a lot?”

It did, the island went through random bouts of rain every once in a while. The thunderstorms here resembled hailstorms more usually than not. During that time everyone would take any work they could indoors, Zayn had his desk in the control room so he could monitor the raptors. Because of the complex projects going on in all parts of the park, they sometimes couldn’t afford a storm so Twist had hired meteorologists to track any storms heading their way so the staff could always be prepared.

Zayn couldn’t remember anything about a storm this weekend in the briefings he had this morning.

“Yeah, but we usually have a warning before it does,” he didn’t know how they were going to make it back to the control room now. The roads were probably all mud by now with how much was rain was falling, but he didn’t want to worry Liam so he decided to try a different route.

He looked out the window and up to see which way the clouds were moving. Left, so Zayn’s best bet was turning the car in the opposite direction and try to take a longer but hopeful dry path. He opened the compartment in the dashboard, reaching over Liam’s lap.

“Sorry, just need to get the map.” Zayn couldn’t seem to find it, and vowed to clean up the vehicle the next opportunity he had. Liam, helpful as ever, reached in himself and rifled through the various papers with him. Their hands brushed in the search, but it really wasn’t the time for Zayn to become flustered, so he flipped through the sheets until his fingers reach the one he was looking for.

He breathed out an, “aha”, before settling back into his seat and unfolding the creased paper.

“It seems we’re going to have to take the road that you guys were on this morning, it’ll take longer but hopefully that it’s drier, that okay?”

“Yeah, ‘course. Wouldn’t mind a little more time in here anyway,” Zayn turned his head to face him in time to see the man’s eyes bulge as he quickly backpedaled, “to you know, see the sights and all. All the nature is...it’s really beautiful.” He finished scanning Zayn’s face carefully as his voice drifted off.

Zayn gave him a soft smile in return, “Yeah it’s really something else isn’t it?”

The moment was ruined once more by a loud clap of thunder ringing above their heads. Zayn took that as his cue to start the car up again and turn it in the direction they had came from, from there he would have to make a few turns and they’d be back on course to the control room.

The pair drove in silence, Zayn needing to concentrate on steering the car in the right direction with all the rain that was obscuring mostly everything ahead. The chill from outside had started to seep into the vehicle but Zayn didn’t want to take his hands off the wheel to turn the heat on, lest he accidentally miss a turn.

Zayn didn’t much like being out in the park during a storm, that’s why he preferred to stay inside the windowless control room where the storm could barely be heard over the chatter of workers fulfilling all sort of jobs. The park was eerie on its own with all the trees, only cracks of sunlight lighting the way for any workers traveling through it, but when it rained the area turned into the set of Survivor. Roaring winds, endless buckets of rain, and rustling trees, could make anyone feel deserted in what felt like standing in the eye of a hurricane.

Zayn tried to shake off the chilling feeling settling in his bones and kept steadily driving. After a few long stretches of road the rain seemed to lessen, it was still harshly hitting the car from all directions but it seemed to come in weaker waves than before. The windshields could actually do an effective job when working with this type of rain.

Liam was the first to spot it, Zayn had been making a right turn when he’d heard the gasp next him.

“Zayn, watch out!”

He instinctively slammed on the breaks causing the two men to lurch forward in their seats. "Ya Allah!" Zayn recovered quickly enough to see through the water streaked glass the two-legged creature trot across the path not five feet in front of the car. He felt his stomach drop and the pounding in his chest mirror the pounding of the rain outside. His limbs felt as frigid as the winds howling between the trees.

“Was that a…” Liam’s voice quivered.

Zayn nodded stiffly next to him feeling every bit of fear that he had heard etched in Liam’s question. 

The radio flickered to life in front of them, static noises filling the vehicle before an automated voice spoke,

 _"Due to dangerous conditions all guests and employees are asked to meet in the control room, immediately_."

The voice repeated the phrase again while the pair sat still in shock, their ragged breathing the only other noise inside the jeep. Zayn had a feeling the dangerous conditions had nothing to do with the storm. 

  

* * *

 

 

**_Paddock Nine_ **

 

They were right. The entirety of paddock nine, was empty. Save for of course the young para that was roaming around somewhere, but they had yet to stumble upon her in their trek.

They spent a few minutes driving around the area until they could find the part of the field she was at before they left, eyes peeled for any sign of movement. When they pulled up, she wasn’t anywhere in sight, which was disheartening, as Louis really wanted to be able to interact with her already.

Keith moaned about how she’d done this the last time he transported her, the little girl’s feet never wanting to stay in one place for a long time. His response was to keep moving towards the pond that stretched over paddocks eight and nine, figuring she might have gone back there to either swim back to her nest or get a quick drink.

Truth be told, Louis was actually getting pretty excited to view yet another one of these creatures up close and personal. Sure he got to play a little with the baby triceratops in the nursery, but this time, he would be helping to move it back to it’s “home” and actually mesh with a dinosaur in it’s own environment, not in some hybrid, million dollar man-made lab. 

He could tell that Harry was buzzing too, by the way his eyes glimmered every time Louis looked at him with a similar expression of his own. It was very endearing, and Louis mentally scolded himself for letting Harry Styles crawl under his skin like that.

Because Harry really wasn’t anything to him. Sure they flirted a lot, pretty heavily from where he was concerned, and okay maybe he did imagine strolling down the street with him one day, hands clasped together and not letting the other one go. Which would eventually end with him holding Harry down by his wrists as they blended together. But other than that, he was just Harry, grandson of a powerful man who was soon to be his boss. They weren’t anything, not that Louis didn’t think about them being something.

He didn’t know how he felt about that just yet. Yes, he did catch himself openly staring at Harry’s obscene lips every time he gnawed on them, and many times he’s wanted to say “fuck it” and lean over and kiss him until they were both out of breath and panting into each other’s mouths, but he didn't because 1.) they were surrounded by people at all times, 2.) it’s unprofessional, and 3.) even though it wasn’t likely, it would look like he was able to secure a job because of who Harry is and who his grandfather is, even if they had only met a day previous.

So, he sat with his hands in his lap, trying not to think about Harry Styles’ intoxicating personality and stupidly attractive face. (He failed).

Keith harshly slammed on the brakes, the clouds of Louis’ thoughts parting abruptly  with them. Keith didn’t say anything for a moment, which worried him, but he lifted a finger to his lips, signalling for them to be quiet.

It was almost immediate when they heard the rustling of leaves from the side of the jeep, and a high pitched honk that sounded like a mix between a dolphin and a goose.

“Get out slowly and follow me.” Keith whispered as his door creaked open and he stepped out. He reached over to the back of the car, and tugged a little pole that had a wire loop on the end, “Hold this,” he said, handing it to Harry. He then pulled out what looked to be a stun gun, and Louis was visually alarmed. Keith could see the way his eyebrows scrunched up in worry and was quick to put his mind at ease. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt her. It’s just in case she starts giving me trouble, which she has yet to do.”

Louis nodded understandably hoping the transportation wouldn’t turn out bad like it could; he didn’t think he could bear to see an animal get stunned in order for it to cooperate.

The experienced man in front of them also pulled out what looked like a whistle, and if Louis’ hunches were correct, it would probably be used to make some sort of call that resembled that of the parasaurolophus, which could then assist them in leading the girl back into her paddock.

“There’s a gate back there that only employees have clearance to,” Keith motioned past a wide set of trees, where Louis could vaguely make out a sliver of the metallic door. “What I normally do is call her out of the area with this whistle,” he brought it to his mouth, blowing just enough air to get a nearly identical high whine to spew from it. “And then when she comes, I lead her back to the gate with some leafy branches and the whistle still, then I close ‘er up. Pretty simple stuff.”

Simple is good. Simple is easy, and nothing can go wrong with simple. Louis liked simple.

Keith lead them through a patch of soft bushes, each one trying not to step on any sticks that would alert the dino to their presence or scare it off.

They ended up walking around for a few minutes, putting a good distance between them and the jeep, all the while Keith continued to blow the whistle.

It’s when a another soft honk was heard right next to them that they ceased all movements. Harry went still with the pole still clenched tightly, and Louis had the stun gun pulled close to his chest, finger lightly resting just above the trigger.

The whistle went slack in Keith’s mouth, Louis and Harry stood silently behind as he took a cautious step forward. He blew it once more, and it an instant, a little duck-billed head popped out from where it was nestled behind a tree.

She was no taller than Louis’ waist, and she cocked her head when she caught a glimpse of the men hovering around her. She made another low squeal as she looked at Keith, registering that she remembered who he was from before.

“C’mon girl, you remember me don’t ya?” Keith cooed, leaning down by his feat to palm at a few prehistoric-sized leaves on the ground. He picked them up and showed them to her. “I’m not gonna hurt ya.”

It was absolutely breath taking the way she sniffed at the leaves in his hand before dropping down on all fours and moving towards him. She reminded Louis of a kangaroo.

She was a little shy at first, taking precaution as her hazel eyes scanned over him and Harry; they were new territory she’d never crossed before.

Louis was so caught up in admiring the creature before him that he almost didn’t notice Keith taking a few steps backwards, blowing the whistle softly as he went.

The little girl timidly followed on her front webbed hands, snacking on the leaves Keith was leaving in a trail to the gate.

They were able to get close enough to the gate so Keith could type in the code to unlock it, but as if something was just destined to happen and ruin everything, Harry let out a blood curdling scream that bounced through Louis’ eardrum, letting the pole clank on the ground while his arms flailed about, in what looked to be a way of brushing something off his arm.

Unsurprisingly, it startled the para enough to send her jogging away from their group and back into the trees, her tail almost colliding with Louis’ ankle.

Harry was still wiping off his hand when Keith approached him, none too happy about what just happened. “Kid, what the hell is wrong with you?” He looked like he was five seconds away from punching him square in the jaw. Louis made a note to himself to never piss off Keith.

“I’m so sorry,” his voice was breathless and higher, almost to a normal human pitch. “There was a spider on my arm and I don’t- I don’t do spiders.”

He looked so innocent and sincere that even though he just fucked up the moving of the dino, Louis had to cut him some slack. He knew what it was like having a crippling phobia; his was heights, while Liam, unrealistically, was of spoons.

Keith was still unimpressed after Harry’s explanation, mouth scrunching down into a frown. “Lucky for you kid, there are about twenty different species of spiders living on this island.” And with those words, Harry honestly looked like he was going to cry.

“Maybe it’s best if you go back and wait in the jeep. We’ll be done shortly.”

“I think I’ll take you up on that offer,” Harry shivered, trying not to trip over his boots as he turned to find the jeep. He didn’t look back to see Louis’ reaction, but he couldn’t blame him. If he was in Harry’s position, he’d want to escape without having to deal with anyone either.

Keith’s eyes suddenly lit up, like he’d remembered something important. “Oh and can you bring me my walkie, please? I’ve left it in the car and I need to ask if they’ve got a visual on the par up in the control room.”

“No problem,” Harry half yelled, slowly fading into the distance until he became nothing at all.

“Come on doctor, let’s keep going.”

While Harry was gone, they made their way through the oak trees that rested in the uninhabited enclosure, dew from the blades of grass latching onto his ankles as they went.

It didn’t take long before they could hear the soft squeaks of the dinosaur once more. Keith motioned for him to stay still, taking the whistle back out and placing it between his parted lips, which reminiscently reminded Louis of a cigarette.

It took one blow to alert the dinosaur to their existence, and before they could try to rope her in again, she darted off frightened again, but that time Keith didn’t tell him to stop, instead speeding after her like they were participating in a relay race. Once Louis’ feet caught up with his brain, he was following straight after, both the stun gun and pole that Harry dropped in his hands.

He vaguely saw Keith stop ahead of him, but he didn’t have time to process the information before he unattractively slammed into his back.

“Ouch, what the fuck?” He took a full three steps back, confused as his eyeline stretched just above Keith’s shoulders, which was all he saw at the moment.

Keith didn’t say a word, only choosing to stare at the fence before him. It was odd and unnerving, and Louis expected to tell him off for not giving him a warning that he was going to freeze up like that, but as soon as he poked his head from behind the older man, he knew exactly why he stood dead in his tracks.

It was a part of the fence, that separated paddocks eight and nine. It was a large part of the fence that now looked ripped open, like a numerous set of teeth chewed its way through to the other side; their side.

“What?” He asked, taking extra care not to touch the wires that were supposed to be running with thousands of volts of electricity, and closed the distance between him and the broken fence.

“Are those bite marks?”

That didn’t make any sense. It couldn’t have been from the paras in the next paddock, because their teeth weren’t big or sharp enough, and not even a herd of them would be able to create a gap in the fences that large. It had to have been some sort of electrical issues they were having trouble with from before. Maybe it was one of the reasons the paddock was closed down for repairs, and was why the adolescent dinosaur was able to get in between fences so easily.

“This hasn’t happened before,” Keith cried, face draining off all color until he was bleached and pale. He looked like he’d seen a ghost. “I was never trained to handle this sort of situation.”

Okay. Louis had no clue what was going on, but the way Keith was shocked into an almost paralytic state caused his heart to hammer in his chest, and he knew that it couldn’t mean something good. He had a gut feeling he knew what the broken fence meant, but voicing that thought aloud would make it seem real, and it couldn’t be.Twist assured him that the security in the park was world-leading.

“We have to go right now,” the aged man gasped. “There’s been a break in security and we need to get out and let the control room know.”

He was frantic, shifting his eyes across the gap that stretched at least thirty feet up, no telling how wide it was. There were only a handful of species on the island that were big enough to make a hole like that, and even less so that had the strength enough in their jaw and teeth to be able to rip it open jaggedly like it was.

“What is it?” Louis tried to keep his voice as calm as possible, even though inside he was currently freaking the fuck out. He took a cautious step towards a thick cable wire sticking out near his face, noting the dents along it from whatever’s teeth sunk into it. He dug back in the recess of his mind to remember exactly which dinosaurs they’d visited on their tour, breath becoming ragged when only one possible name stood out.

And then the jarring effect of what felt like an earthquake hit them, sending vibrations from the soles of his vans through his legs and to his chest, heart threatening to rip through the skin by how hard it was thumping then.

Louis and Keith didn’t dare move as the ground shook from underneath them, harder each time, as if what was causing the small quakes was slowly nearing them.

He gulped. There was a dinosaur out of its containment. There was a dinosaur out of its containment, and in the paddock they were currently standing it. There was a dinosaur out of its containment, in the paddock they were standing in, and it was heading right for them. And Louis knew exactly what it was.

He locked eyes with Keith for a brief moment, each breath feeling like it was being punched out of his chest by a stone fist.

“We have to leave right now.” He whispered, hands visibly shaking from where Louis could see them.

“Ok,” He tried to say, but the word caught in his throat as another rumble reverberated, even more violent this time, forcing his legs to give out beneath him, landing his bum in the dirt with a harsh _thud._

He didn’t have time to right himself before a deep snarl was sounding its way between the trees. He snuck a look at Keith hoping the man knew what to do next. He was a trained professional, but in the moment he looked like a child on the playground, full of fear after they fell off the slide and scraped their knee.

He wanted to run, but any opportunity for either of them was lost as soon as a broad scaly snout appeared from behind a nestle of boulders close by in the field.

It didn’t hit him at first, that this was actually happening. It felt like he was stuck in some sort of trance, willing himself internally to wake up. But it never happened.

His eyes widened at the sight of the indominus creature as it came into full view, and in any other situation he would remark on the beauty of the Tyrannosaur, but he was currently pressed against the stone bottom lining of the fence behind him, mouth dry and hands vibrating.

Keith hadn’t moved from his position, stood with his body to Louis, back facing the Rex that had slowly stepped closer.

Louis’ mind was racing with so many different thoughts, one being that there had to be some kind of camera on them right then, and Nick Dickhead and Twist saw what was happening and have called in backup in order to rescue them from this nightmare.

Keith wasn’t moving, but his chest was sporadically heaving up and down, and he was aware of the dominating presence that loomed overhead.

The T-rex peered around in their general directions, grunting like she was trying to find something but nothing in particular. She was only investigating the new territory.

He prayed to god that Harry wasn’t anywhere near them, prayed that he was sitting comfortably in the jeep keeping his distance. He hoped that Harry even heard the noises, felt the shakes, and was calling his grandfather to bring people in.

Because Louis had been a paleontologist for years, he knew the basic inner workings of a T-rex. They aren’t very smart creatures, and they will leave you alone if you aren’t bothering them, as long as they don’t see you as a threat, or as long as they aren’t hungry. He also knew that their vision was based on movement. So going on faith that through the cloning process done by Twistcorp that their vision hadn’t been altered, Louis kept motionless and managed to control his breathing.

He didn’t know if Keith knew that fact about the Rexs, so he bravely conveyed it to him even though he knew it was a risk that could get them hurt.

“Don’t. Move.” He whispered, barely parting his lips to let the words slip out. “Their vision is based on movement. Don’t move and she’ll leave.”

He thought Keith registered what he said, but as soon as the creature nosed along his back, he let out a broken sob, a few tears falling from his fear engulfed eyes.

Louis caught the moment she figured out there was another living creature with her, as she opened her mouth and bared the two rows of nine inch teeth at him. His eyes shifted back to Keith, who was now full on sobbing. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his hand slowly reach down to grab at something; another gun. Whether it was another stun gun or one equipped with bullets, he didn’t know.

“Don’t…” He mouthed at Keith, barely twitching his head to shake it in a ‘no’.

Keith had gotten his hand on the trigger then, Louis internally screaming _DON’T DO IT DON’T DO IT._

He didn’t listen.

He snapped the gun from his belt and pointed it directly behind him into the face of the dinosaur, firing not once, but six times. Bullets ricocheted off her teeth and the upper part of her abdomen, not nearly enough to severely damage her.

Welding the gun he braved a step back, and Louis could only watch in fear as the nine ton animal screamed in pain, Keith slipping out from under her and dashing in the direction of the jeep. _No._

Keith wasn't  fast enough, and it only took a few seconds for the Rex to catch up with him, Louis frozen to the spot as he watched the next moments unfold in horror.

One moment, Keith was there, dragging his legs across the grass, but in the next, the upper part of his body disappeared, enveloped by razor sharp teeth as they sunk into the flesh of his stomach.

Louis could hear a muffled scream, but the blood pumping in his ears was louder and he felt sick, covering his mouth with both hands as both the contents of his stomach threatened  to spill out, and to hold back a sob.

The dinosaur thrashed her head around, a sickly _pop_ coming out, which Louis only guessed was from Keith’s spinal cord. The legs that were kicking before suddenly stopped, and the Rex tilted her head back, allowing for the rest of the body to slide down her throat.

He was too in shock to move, willing the carnivore to forget about him and move along with his mind.

She didn’t turn back around, which he was thankful for, instead sniffing around the area in front of her and walking back up the path she came from.

Louis let out the breath he was holding onto for dear life, only able to rest for a moment until his stomach lurched, bile rising in his throat. He bent on his knees and opened his mouth, the contents of his stomach emptying onto the dirt.

When he finished, the sat back down, one hand wiping the vomit from his mouth and the other rubbing the wetness away from his eyes.

This couldn’t be happening. One of the largest meat eating creatures to ever walk the earth was out of it’s paddock, and freely roaming the park.

It had just killed and ate someone before his very eyes.

He knew he had to find a way out of the containment for his safety and to warn people, but then a thought popped into his mind. Harry.

Harry was still out there, back where Keith told him to go wait by the jeep. He undoubtedly heard the growls and the gunshots, and was probably as scared and confused as Louis was. And he had no idea that there was an escaped Tyrannosaurus-Rex walking around the paddock, free to go wherever it liked.

Unsteadily, he pushed himself to his feet, the ground feeling numb under his shoes. The only thing running through his mind was: _I have to find Harry._

He ran, and maybe it wasn’t a smart move, with a ravenous meat eater out there, but he didn’t care. He had to make sure Harry was okay.

He made it back to the jeep in only a few minutes (the running helped), and his heart nearly stopped when he realized Harry wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

“Harry!?” He screamed, knowing it was dumb and that the Rex could still be in hearing distance. Nothing. “Harry Styles!!” He was beginning to think that maybe he was too late, and that either the Rex go to him first or he had managed to find a way out (he prayed for the latter), but a frightened voice from behind a tree ends his thoughts.

“Lou?” Harry appeared out of no where, eyes bulging. His voice sounded like it had been run over a few times. He held the walkie talkie in his hand, looking confused as ever.

And Louis felt so, so relieved. Because Harry was okay. He might have looked like he shit his pants but he was alive with no scratches on him. And he wasn’t thinking clearly, but he ran straight up to the younger boy and folded his arms around his neck, squeezing him against his pounding chest.

“You’re okay,” He breathed, Harry’s arms reaching around to hold him by the waist. And it was all too much. Because Louis just watched someone die and barely escaped with his life and Harry was just there, holding him impossibly close and he’s okay. Everything washed over him in that instant because he may sort of really like Harry a lot and his presence made it hard to breathe even though they’ve only known each other for the weekend.

It was overwhelming and he still wasn’t thinking at all, and maybe it was all the adrenaline coursing through his veins, but he felt as if he would never have the chance, so he carefully unlatched his face from Harry’s neck to press their lips together without a second thought.

In the back of his mind he registered a grunt from Harry, but didn’t give him enough time to respond before Louis was pulling back and putting distance between them. Harry’s still had a tight grip around his waist, visibly stunned with his eyes wide, searching Louis’ own. And then he remembered throwing up only minutes ago, which was gross, and he just kissed a really cute boy probably smelling like something died in his mouth. If Harry was grossed out, he didn't show it.

They did’t speak for what seemed like hours, and Louis almost regretted the decision because he and Harry had never talked about that and maybe he should have asked first, but Harry moved to lean in again, daring for another kiss at the same time Louis remembered exactly where they were, and what could happen to them if they stayed much longer.

He placed his hands on Harry’s broad chest, gulping as he pushed back. “No, we can’t do this…”

It sounded harsh, like Louis was telling him they couldn’t be something, even though he only meant that they couldn’t do what they were doing at that very moment in time. “We can’t stay here, it’s not safe.”

“Louis what’s going on?” Temor prevalent in his voice. “I heard a noise, and then there were gunshots? And I tried to get the radio to work but we must be in a bad area with no reception or something.”

The words didn’t register with Louis for a moment, and he broke their hold on each other, tugging on Harry’s hand and running towards the jeep.

“We have to leave right now,” Louis wanted to cry because Harry still had no idea what was going on and he had no idea how to explain it to him.

“What about Keith?” He inquired, blindly following as Louis shoved him into the passenger side of the car.

He climbed in the driver's side, rushing to get the door closed and his seatbelt on. He didn’t know what kind of answer to give Harry. How do you explain to someone that you just watched a person getting eaten by a dinosaur that was supposed to be extinct?

“Louis, what is going on?” Harry asked more sternly, eyes locking Louis’ with worry.

They didn’t have time for Louis to explain, the Rex could find them at any minute. But Harry deserved to know what was happening, so Louis put on his bravest face he could muster up, telling Harry what he wanted to know.

“I need you to stay calm, you hear me?”

Harry nodded his head and Louis continued, not breaking their gaze. “There is a Tyrannosaurus in this paddock.”

He closed his eyes, willing himself to remain as calm as possible. “We have to leave, Harry. Where’s the keys?” 

He looked up to see Harry expressionless, taking the news better than he thought.

“I’m freaking out about this less than when there was a spider on my arm,” he laughed, but Louis knew it was some sort of coping mechanism. “Keith… Keith had the keys. Where is he? Is he alright?”

Louis slammed his head down against the steering wheel. Of course Keith had the keys. And of course he was gone. “No, he’s not.”

It dawned on Harry in that moment, realization flooding over his face as he let out a pained gasp.

“Is he….”

He knew exactly what he was asking. Louis shook his head in reply, only to be met with a “Fuck,” from the man next to him.

“What do we do now?” Harry mumbled.

“Do you have your phone?” He shook his head. “Great. Mine’s dead.”

There wasn’t anything they could do. They couldn’t start the car without the keys, and he’s pretty sure neither of them knew how to hotwire a car, and the walkie wasn’t working. They only had one option: run.

“Maybe we can find another gate that doesn’t require a code,” he suggested, hand ready on his seatbelt to unfasten it.

He didn’t get a chance to, as it was, because without warning the ground started quaking again, small at first, gaining momentum as time went on. They had wasted too much time yet again.

“Lou is that-”

“Don’t move,” he interrupted. He could feel Harry shaking beside him, and quickly took his hand in his to give him something, anything to stay anchored to.

She snuck out from behind the trees, enormous head leading and her expansive body following after. Harry gasped beside him, squeezing Louis’ hand even tighter, sufficiently cutting off all circulation.

She didn’t see them, which was good. If they’re lucky, she would just walk past without giving them a second glance.

They weren’t lucky.

It took a single buzz of the two-way radio for everything to come crashing down.

 _“Keith, are you there?”_ Came from what sounded like a frantic Nick in the control room. “ _Keith are you there? Listen to me, you have to all get out right now.”_

The Rex turned her head at the voice, a low and deafening roar escaped from her mouth, loud enough for it to hurt their inner ears.

_“The fences are off! The fences are off! The cameras are down too so we don’t know what’s out there. If you can hear me you need to get out right now!”_

Louis snuck a glance down at their intertwined hands, then up at Harry’s face. His eyes were shut, leaving just enough room for a single tear to trail down his cheek.

The dinosaur roared again before finally pouncing on her prey. Somewhere above them there was a clap of thunder.

“We’re gonna be okay,” Louis promised, having just enough time to cover Harry’s body with his own as the car lurched to the right, and everything went black.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! And for leaving kudos and comments, they're all very appreciated!! Also thank you to anyone who's come into our askbox with nice messages those mean a lot :'). Next chapter should have double the amount of action so prepare yourself..... 
> 
> If you ever have any questions or just want to send us a nice motivational message to hurry up and post the fukcign chapter shoot us a message on our tumblr(s):
> 
> jurassicparkau  
> stanleylucas  
> loudloudandloud
> 
> \- Mel


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dedicate this chapter to my hamster that died when I was seven. I'm sorry I gave you to my cat to play with. May you rest in pieces.
> 
> warnings for blood and body mutilation

_**Control Room** _

 

“This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening!” Nick frantically clicked through the system's codes to try and understand what the hell was going on. They had tried getting a hold of Keith, but once Nick had gotten the message through the device, it went to static before cutting out completely.

Now, their boss was pacing back and forth slowly, phone pressed against his ear. “Pick up, pick up.” His only other option was to call his grandson himself, dramatically sighing as it went straight to voicemail. He called Harry a total of three other times, each one ending the same as the first. It only served to worry him even more.

Perrie was a nervous presence over his shoulder. Her face twisted in concern as she watched him type away.

"Wait, go back," She said, too loud for how close she stood to Nick's ear.

Nick's fingers paused on the keyboard and he scrolled up the page slowly, "what?"

The harsh lighting in the control room made the beads of sweat that had gathered on his forehead glisten. His quiff had drooped slightly in the past hour, it was now hazardously lying on his damp hairline like a fallen tree. Nick just wanted an answer to why the entire park had decided to shut down, he'd invested so much into the park he deserved some sort of answer.

He kept scrolling until Perrie said when, nearly missing it again. He furrowed his eyebrows, not sure what he was looking at exactly. It took him a moment but the cogs in his head finally started turning.

He didn't notice the almost inaudible, "no," he let out before the tips of his fingers were clamping down on the keys at double the speed. The irregular coding on the screen became a blur as he moved through the lines, trying anything to edit them. Nick didn't create the programs for the park from scratch but even he knows how wrong the lines looks on the screen.

But, how could someone even get into their database like this? Nick’s mind simply could not fathom even the idea of someone actually hacking into the systems. He knew the park didn’t appeal to all audiences. At one of the press conferences people had showed up with signs and stood outside the building spouting all sorts of comments. But no one would go as far to risk several lives of not only humans, but also the animals. No one would be able to anyway, Nick knew the park’s system inside and out. He worked with it every single day and could confirm that someone hacking the database was near impossible, the only way someone could have access would be if they were on the inside.

Nick tried to undo the puzzling lines of code from the screen, he tried again, and again. Nothing worked. His frustrations were rising and his mind was still reeling at a million miles per hour.

Perrie stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, nodding her head to left where Twist was making his way toward the frazzled pair.

“Nick, what’s wrong?”

Nick let out a long sigh, looking down and trying to wrap his head around what was happening. Perrie nudged him again and he looked up to find the old man’s face scrunching in worry. Nick hated having to be the one to drop the bomb.

“Sir, it seems someone has entered the security codes-”

“and completely fucked them over,” Perrie finished eloquently. Her eyes scanned the screen, a look of pure disbelief on her face as she scoffed. “I didn’t even know hacking into these systems was possible.”

“It’s not. Jeff created the system with the best technology, there’s no way anyone could get into them,” Twist’s voice trailed off at the end. He plopped himself into the empty chair next to Nick’s as his expression turned thoughtful, like he was trying to map things out in his head. He’d surprisingly taken the news swifter than Nick anticipated, there weren’t any tantrums or dramatic meltdowns. Twist was known for being a very expressive guy, Nick didn’t expect him to shut down so quickly at his words.

Nick turned his attention back to the screen in front of him, he made to press a key when he noticed a low hum coming from the back of the monitor.

“What the hell is that,” he asked as the hum gradually increased in sound. Nick shot Perrie a look, who simply mirrored it and shrugged.  

“Whatever it is you need to fix it, Grimshaw,” Twist replied, covering his ears as the sound reached a deafening volume. Nick wondered if he could become deaf from the sheer volume of the sound. It was making his ear tingle and his head throb, the sensory stimulation overloading on one specific sense.

Just as quickly as it had increase, the volume decreased leaving the ears of the trio ringing in its wake. Nick watched with bated breath as the screen flickered once before going black. He blinked.

“Great,” His first thought was that the power had cut off, but the lights overhead disproved his idea. Clearly the peculiar codes had some sort of detector that wouldn’t allow just anyone to touch any of the changes, a defense mechanism if you will.

Nick blanked on what to do next. He tried to restart the computer but as he pressed the start button nothing happened, it was like the power to the device had been completely cut off.  

“Um,” Nick turned to his boss and co-worker, “I don’t think my computer was authorized to touch any of the codes, that’s probably why it went all haywire like that.” He waited a beat before adding solemnly, “Someone definitely doesn’t want us to see what they’re doing.”

“Try Jeff’s, he basically created those codes, he’s probably got the editor somewhere on a drive.” Perrie walked over to Jeff’s desk and started up the computer. “If we can get into the program we can track the source of the hack.”

Twist stood behind the workers, massaging his temples with a groan. “What are we to do about the fences then? The storm outside is going to make it difficult to figure everything out. We thought is was going to head north like the last one did. We weren’t anticipating the gravity of it.”

“I’ll check the security for them on Perrie’s computer, while you see whatever’s wrong on Jeff’s.” Nick scoffed at the black screen of his now fried networking device, traveling the short distance across the room to his coworkers computer. “It could just be that one paddock, for all we know.”

That was another problem they now had. First they discovered the cameras had been turned off and tampered with, then it was discovered that the fences of paddock nine were off. Which wouldn’t be that much of a problem, considering there was nothing there, if they hadn’t discovered the bite marks tearing through the wires. They didn’t know what did it, and they had no idea whether or not it was the only fence that had shorted out.

There was a chance, though unlikely, whatever hack this was caused more than one fence to turn off. If that was the case, they would be needing all enforcements because anything could go wrong. Currently, they had three people out in that mess, one if their best workers, the most famous paleontologist in the world, and the grandson of the park’s owner, and they didn’t know if they’d gotten their messages about returning to the base.

An even more startling thought was the fact that IF something bigger was happening, the lives of everyone on the island was now at stake. “What should be done about the rest of the employees here, sir?”

Twist contemplated the idea for a moment, eyes searching for the best solution. On one hand, they could cause a freak out when there could be nothing to be worried about yet, but on the other if they don’t do anything and something were to happen, he’d be the reason if people got hurt.

“There are only a few employees here for the weekend shifts. The labs and the resort are closed, so the only other people left are you both, some maintenance staff, Niall and Zayn,” He started, calm and collected as he came to a decision. “Send out an announcement for them to meet here, and we’ll go from there.”

“Yessir.”

Nick hastily sent out the announcement over the two-way radio, voice tight and gravely when he spoke into the channel that reached out over the whole island, “Due to dangerous conditions all guests and employees are asked to meet in the control room, immediately."

Now all they had to worry about was getting back into the system and right everything.

“Mr. Twist, I don’t have clearance to access any of the programs on this computer,” Perrie backed away, gesturing for her boss to take a look.

Each computer was private to each individual worker, but it was a little known fact that the boss himself had special clearance to each one of them. Kind of like managers that have a universal key that opens every room in a hotel. “I have special access to all the hard drives Perrie, don’t worry.” He waited for her to move away before he hunched over the keys to type his username and clearance code.

“You do?” Nick asked almost surprised.

“Of course I do Grimshaw, I’m the boss.” He laughed, pressing the enter key. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to when you’re on break.” Nick gaped at him, blinking fast at the pang of embarrassment. Twist winked at Perrie, “I see everything.”

“Now make me proud, Ms. Edwards,” Twist added, watching as Perrie sat back down in the same position she was before.

She pulled up the same old Jurassic Park logo’d background, opening file after file, as well as the system’s main security program. There didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary, which was alarming.

“I’m not seeing anything unusual…” She trailed off, clicking on the codes that programed the fences. “This doesn’t make any sense, the codes are here, nothing is turned off.”

“What?” Both Nick and Twist gasped, confusion evident on their raised brows.

“Track the changes then. We’ll just have to find out where it’s coming from then.”

Perrie nodded, a little frazzled by what was being displayed on the screen. Things were getting even weirder than they were before, and she was anxious that if she clicked on something else, she’d stumble upon something that she didn’t want to see.

She spent a few minutes tracing through all the files, scrolling and clicking through numbers and codes that went to god knows what. There was a strong signal that appeared in the right corner to track the hack, indicating the exact location of the hacker that had gotten into their system. Now all they had to do was locate their IP address and shut them down.

The area of search was broad at first, before decreasing in surface area. Perrie’s mouth went dry as in eclipsed the island. “It’s on the island. Whoever’s doing this is somewhere in the park.”

“What?” Twist exclaimed, frantically positioning himself over the screen. The signal beeped once, then twice, then finally decreased for a second time. “What the hell?” The green area decreased into one final dot on the screen, pinpointing the final location.

“That can’t be right….” Nick whispered, having walked over from Perrie’s station. “It says it’s here…. in the control room.”

Silence filled the room as the trio waited with heavy hearts and frozen limbs for the tracking program to finish.

When the final noise erupted, neither of them for prepared for what popped up below the green dot.

_22.231.113.64_

“That’s not…. that’s not possible,” Twist gasped, breath tickling the back of Perrie’s neck, causing her to shiver. “It can’t be coming from Jeff’s computer. Run it again.”

It had to be some kind of mistake. Jeff was one of his most trusted employees. He was skilled and practical, they ran a background check and everything. He wouldn’t have done something like this right under their noses.

Perrie ran the tracker again, Twist asking Nick, “Was there anyone else in here that could have gotten onto the hard drive?”

Nick looked almost guilty. He wanted to be able to tell his boss that yes, someone else was in here and they were able to get on his computer, just to get that terrified expression of his face. “I’m sorry sir, there was no one else in here. Jeff’s been on that computer all day.”

Perrie sighed, looking down at her lap. “It didn’t change, sir. The changes were definitely made through Jeff’s computer. Which means-”

“Which means Jeff hacked into his own programming to shut everything down.” Nick continued after her.

Confusion wafted through the air, even more than it had before everything came crashing down around them. This was just icing on the cake though. The fact that one of his own employees, that he hand-picked out and fully traced through a background check, spent years working under him with the guise that he was fully with the company, only to go and pull a stunt like this. It still didn’t make any sense.

There was still the question that remained. “Why would he hack into his own system? Why would he spend years developing it, only to destroy it out of the blue?” Twist was strangely not as mad as he should have been, he was mostly just trying to piece together all of this new information. Nick could relate, he was having a hard time digesting the information himself.

“Was he acting different today, Nick?” Perrie asked, hoping to draw some sort of indicating response.

But to be honest, there was nothing out of the ordinary. He clocked in that morning, got on his computer, looked like he was doing what he normally did. They got lunch and then went back to work. The only other thing was the phone call he’d gotten before Twist arrived, which now that Nick thought about it, he was a little hushed with it. Other than that, Nick couldn't place Jeff to the person who had shut down the park’s security system. Jeff was the first person Nick had met his first day on the job. He had a respect for the fellow programmer and how intricately well he had created the network that held the park together.

“The only thing I can think of is the phone call he made a few hours ago, during the tour. I couldn’t really hear what they were saying, but he did seem sort of quiet about it.”

Perrie seemed to think for a moment. “On the desk phone, or his cell phone?”

“Desk.”

She rushed to pull open another application on the computer, typing something they didn’t know what of. She pressed the enter key, looking back at the two men. “All calls are recorded, and since the call was made on the desk phone, we can pull up who it was to on the computer.”

Another high-tech and fancy feature thanks to Twist Corporations.

Without another second a little dialogue box popped up on the screen, like when receiving a voicemail. She clicked on the one dated that day, only a few hours ago. They listened on, registering an older, grovely voice, and the second, which belonged to none other than Jeff.

_‘Hello?’_

_‘Hey, it’s me.’_

_‘What’s the progress?”_

_‘I’m almost at the gate codes.’_

_‘That's my boy. It's all been leading up to this, Jeffery, we're finally going to set Edward straight.’_

_‘I can't have you failing this time. Not again, you hear me?’_

_‘I’m in.’_

There came another sound from the older man’s end, sounding like a shriek of excitement, before the line finally cut off.

The voice sounded familiar to Twist, but he couldn’t quite place it. He definitely felt like he’d heard it before though. “Can you trace the call?”

Perrie nodded, plugging in the information from the call into the system. It was almost instant when there was a soft ‘ding’, showcasing it had found the location.

“It says it came from America.” She clicked the address, somewhere in the middle of California, LA to be exact. “It makes sense, since Jeff is American.”

“Look up the address.”

Perrie did as her boss told her, copying and pasting the address into the google search bar. A thousand or so hits popped up, and upon further inspection, the street address turned out not to be for a house, but for a business.

“Regulations for Animal Safety and Security.”

“Shit….”

Both Nick and his boss said at the same time. The only difference was Nick sounded curious at the title of the company, whereas Twist was exasperated.

He groaned and hit his hand against the wall next to them, muttering a string of curses they’d never heard leave his mouth before.

It prompted Nick to ask, “Sir, do you know them?"

“Yeah. That’s RASS.” That’s why the voice sounded so familiar to him. It was one he heard so many times years ago when the park was first in conception. “The Regulation for Animal Safety and Security, an animal rights organization that’s hounded my tail for years. I thought they’d given up on shutting me down, but I guess not.”

“What do you mean?” Perrie questioned, biting her lip hard.

“Back when I first got with my investors and the idea came out to the public, RASS sought me out and tried to stop what I was doing. They attended my press conferences, and used to protest outside our company offices sometimes.” He pinched his nose, hating that this is what is had come to. “The voice from that phone call is Irving Azoff, the leader of their radical organization.”

“So was Jeff basically a mole for them, then?” Nick asked, hesitant. He considered Jeff his friend, but now he guessed that wasn’t the case. “And what exactly is their mission here? Shut down the whole park regardless of the possibility that people could get hurt?”

Twist inhaled roughly, then let the breath out slowly, clearing his head. “They have no morals. They don’t care what they do or who they hurt as long as they try and ‘protect’ the rights of animals. And this situation isn’t any different.”

He felt so stupid. He should have seen this happening sooner, and maybe this wouldn’t have been happening now. “But we have to get this park back up and running. I’ll call the mainland, the boats must have docked by now. Then the police will take care of him while we fix everything here.”

He reached for the phone, stalling a moment. There was no sign of a dial tone, leaving him even more frantic and upset. He slammed the phone down, startling his employees. So the cameras, fences, and phones were off. Great. What else could go wrong?

Nick and Perrie shared a defeated look, neither one knowing how exactly they were going to fix whatever Jeff disabled. But they knew they had to try.

With determination set in their eyes, they moved swiftly, bringing everything they had to get the park back in order.

 

* * *

 

**_Paddock Nine_ **

 

It was raining. One second the sky was impossibly clear without a single cloud, and the next, it erupted into darkness leaving no trace of the clear blue from above. The rain beat down harder and harder with every minute that passed.

It was remnant of a distant time, back in the house at the end of the street. Lazy days spent sitting at the window sill watching the water drift from above. Some days they would work in the garden, splashing in the murky puddles they found. Most of the time they were stuck in the house with the older kid who babysat them while their mother was at work, and they would snuggle under the blanket fort to tell each other stories about monsters and magic, passing the time when they weren’t allowed outside.

The pelting of rigid droplets was the first thing he felt as he struggled to gain consciousness. He couldn’t have been out for more than a few minutes, but his clothes were already completely soaked through, and from the sharp smell in the air he guessed some of it wasn’t from the rain.

His limbs were weak and heavy, almost like they were being weighed down with something. Each breath he took sent a spark of pain through the left side of his abdomen, indicating he’d most likely broken a few ribs.

There was also a nagging pressure at the forefront of his cranium, as if his brain was attempting to break free of his skull.

He recognized the root of a tree underneath his back, reaching out with his left hand to confirm his suspicions. Yep, he landed on the side of an oak. At least he thought he did. He had a few seconds where he had trouble remembering exactly what happened or where he was, but it soon came to him as he woke up. He replayed everything as he remembered from a few short minutes ago.

There had been a breach in the fences. The Tyrannosaurus had wandered into paddock nine, where they coincidentally were. Keith was killed. He found Harry. They kissed. They were in the car thinking of a way to escape the situation when the two-way radio went off. Louis could recall moving to protect the younger boy before the Rex had flipped the car over. That must have been how he ended up thrown from one of the sides of the jeep, landing at the base of a tree.

Louis shot up so he was sitting on the ground, no matter how hard his body protested. _Harry was still in the car._

He stifly moved his head to get the feeling back into the joints of his neck, groaning at the pressure and pain that flooded his bones. He shakily made his way to his feet, having to grab onto the tree for support while he willed his body to cooperate with his brain.

The rain was deafening, but it wasn’t loud enough to mask the sound of the spine-chilling scream that drifted through the air. Louis followed the sound with his head, a shower of freezing rain smacking him in the face as he stepped forward.

Then there were two lights shining through the darkness, rain dancing through the rays of the headlights of the jeep.

Intense fear crept inside his bruised bones once more as he stared at the car, which was now upside down, a two-ton foot resting on the top.

It was a frightening sight, seeing the Tyrannosaurus towering above the jeep, it’s leg slowly pushing down on the base to try to crush it. The top of the car, which was now on the bottom, was bending in ways a car should never bend, collapsing down on itself.

The Rex was biting at it too. She tilted the back end up in the air just enough for her to sink her teeth into the undercarriage. She moved to the front tires, ripping them off with a growl. Louis watched motionlessly as the carnivore stepped off the jeep then, ducking her head down to try and peer into the bottom of the car, as if she knew something was in there.

And it was still raining, but not hard enough to blind his vision. He could barely pinpoint Harry, his lifeless body still strapped into his seat while the car was being flattened.

It was his wake up call. Louis pushed all the pain and stiffness he felt down, willing himself not to feel an ounce of pain until he made sure Harry was okay. Which he needed to do soon, because the Rex was roaring again, so loud that he threw his hands up to cover his ears.

He had to come up with a plan, and fast. If he didn’t, Harry would very well be killed, if he wasn’t already, which was a thought Louis didn’t want to even entertain at the moment. And then there was no telling what would happen to him while the animal was still roaming haywire throughout the paddock.

He had to figure something out because he was not going to let Harry die. He was young and had so much left to live for, and Louis was not going to become responsible for yet another death. He already felt like there was something more he could have done to ensure Keith remained alive, and he wasn’t about to just leave Harry to die.

He needed something to distract the animal, like a sound or a light or something. If he could find some tool like that he could try and lead the dinosaur away from the car. He’d have to be careful for the both of them, because if he upset the rex even more she could take it out on Harry, but if she followed him while he distracted her there was no way he’d be able to escape with his life still intact.

There was something near his foot, and as he looked at it closer, he recognized it as a tool box that had been flipped over. It must have been tossed from the jeep like him. He was still hidden thankfully, out of the rex’s field of vision. He used that to his advantage, crouching painfully on his knees to try and find something, anything that could cause a big enough distraction. His knees and back protested but he ignored their whines.

The dinosaur was still investigating the car when he took a chance and dumped the entirety of the toolbox onto the ground in front of him. Metal tools clanked together gracefully, and Louis hoped the noise was loud enough to draw the attention of the rex away from the car, if only for a moment. By the way she turned her head towards the strange sound, he’d guessed it worked. Now all he had to do was find something to use, or else he had just signed over his life to the menacing creature just a few meters before him.

He rummaged through the spilled contents, tossing wrench after screwdriver after wrench. How many wrenches could Jurassic Park offer? His stained fingers rummaged through the variety of tools, he tried not to think much on whether it was blood or dirt on his hands.  His heart sped up when the animal growled in his direction, shaking the ground. He was running out of time.

The dinosaur made a move towards him at the same time he registered the thin sight of a flare stick. It was risky, because there was no guarantee it would even work; the rain seemed to be falling even harder than before. But it was all he had to go on, and if it didn’t work then he had a good run.

The flare was self lighting, and as he pulled on the wick he prayed Harry would somehow get out okay. He hoped there was a way he could find a way back to his grandfather, and that Liam was there too. He wished Liam was okay out there, and if this was the last moment of his life, he hoped Liam would  live a good one to the fullest, he deserved it more than anything.

The flare ignited despite the water raining down on it, almost an anomaly. It must have been a waterproof tool. Red sparks buzzed from the top, Louis held the stick out in front of his body towards the rex. Blood pounded in his ears so hard that he almost missed the distressed sound that the dinosaur let out. He didn’t miss the way her jaw opened, or how the rows of razor sharp teeth stared back at him, which only served to make him even more nervous. If he made one wrong move there was a chance he would be seeing those teeth up close and personal.

Louis breathed out, forcing himself to remain calm. Freaking out wouldn’t help him in staying alive. The dinosaur stood still, and there was only one thing he could think of to do, and that was to wave the flare to his right, hoping the carnivore would follow its movements. Her head traced the light, Louis letting out the breath he was holding in anticipation. He risked waving the fire to his left, relief washing over him when she followed that as well.

He needed to hurry before the flare went out all together, so without a second thought, he flung the fire as hard as he could to his left. He watched as it landed far enough away in the distance that he couldn’t see it anymore. He waited with a bated breath to see if the rex would follow it, legs nearly giving out when she moved in the direction he’d thrown it.

The ground rumbled beneath his feet as she walked away, Louis waiting for her to completely disappear behind the trees before his legs were running forward towards the overturned jeep.

He still couldn’t believe it actually worked.

Pain shot up his right leg and he tasted blood on his lip, but he ignored it as he sunk to the passengers side of the car breathlessly.

“Harry! Harry!” He screamed, trying to awaken the boy that was slumped upside down. It was a miracle he was still in that position and not crushed as the other half of the car was. The gap from the window was too small for him to reach in and pull Harry out, so he moved for the door, in hope that it still had the ability to open.

He got a firm grip on the handle, tugging on it with all the force he could muster up. It took a little more from him, having to put his foot against the side for more leverage, but he was able to open it with a grunt, the distorted jeep door creaking open enough for him to see Harry better.

“Harry, come on!” His hair had all but fallen out of his bun and there were cuts littering his face, and he didn’t look like he was breathing. Louis placed two fingers on his dangling neck, searching for his pulse. He almost cried out in relief when the skin jumped from beneath him. But Harry was still unresponsive. He had to hurry and get him out too, in case the rex decided she wasn’t done with her work there.

Louis reached around Harry’s chest in the seat, following the strip of the seat belt that was undoubtedly cutting into his skin by the force at which it was holding him back in. His hands reached the lock, fingers working quickly to press the button to release the confines from him. Louis made sure to angle his arms to catch Harry, the weight of his limp body falling into his chest as he tugged him out into the pouring rain.

His muscles burned in response, causing him to pull the boy out just far enough out of the car to set him down. He still hadn’t opened his eyes yet.

“Harry!” Louis called again, being careful not to hurt him as he shook his shoulders. He still didn’t know the extent of his own injuries, let alone Harry’s. “C’mon Harry! You have to get up, we have to leave!” He tried again, resorting to lightly tapping Harry’s cheeks in attempt to jostle him awake. When that didn’t work, he prayed to god to forgive him before bringing his hand back in the air and smacking it across Harry’s face.

The skin on skin contact made a sickening sound mixed with the rain water, lolling Harry’s head closer to the gathering mud. He was starting to think he’d have to drag the taller man to find a way out while he was unconscious, but the twitch in his cheek and the flutter of his eyelashes caused his mind to blank on any other thoughts but _Harry_.

His brows were scrunched into a point of discomfort, and his mouth was slack and parted, letting out a barely audible, “ouch” passed his lips. His eyes slowly fluttered open until they were peering up at Louis, who was hovering above him, a few seconds from letting out a sob.

“Fuck, Harry.” He brought his hands up to cup his face, thumbs brushing the forgotten rain drops away from his cheeks. Harry squinted up straight in the face of the downpour, but Louis presence above him shielded him from the onslaught. He knew they needed to get out of there immediately, but felt his body working against him, leaning down to rest his head by Harry’s shoulder. It was the best kind of half-hug he could manage from their positions, but Harry met him eagerly, arm raising up to wrap around Louis’ back.

“What happened?” Harry coughed violently, ending the gesture, breathing erratic and all over the place.

Louis moved back so he was resting over him, moving to lift Harry off the ground. “She flipped the car, Harry. I was thrown out and I think I hit a tree. But you were still in the car. I distracted her and pulled you out.” He paused when he the tip of a thumb that wasn’t his own worked it’s way over his bottom lip, smearing the wetness he felt there.

“You’re bleeding,” Harry said, lifting himself up level with Louis. His face scrunched with pain, closing his eyes for a moment while it subsided. He looked back at Louis. “You tried to protect me with your body. Why did you do that?”

“I’m fine, and it was dumb I know, I didn’t have my seat belt on. I just had to make sure you were going to be okay.” Louis assured him, noting that he probably didn’t have as many cuts as Harry probably had. Then he remembered the situation at hand, not wanting to face the Tyrannosaur a second time.

It took a lot of Louis’ strength to help the man up, who tried to suppress a groan as his face fell in pain. Harry gave him an unconvincing nod when Louis asked if he could walk. Louis needed to get them to a safe spot before he could start fussing over any injuries that probably littered Harry’s body, so he took his word for it.

“We have to go before she comes back.”

Harry’s expression was unreadable in the dark, his curls matting to the front of his face before he brushed them back. He almost forgot it was still raining.

Louis saw him nod silently, and grabbed his hand. His limbs were still aching and there was a pinching sensation by his ribs, but he kept his mind focused on finding a way out and the feeling of Harry’s hand grasping his. He led them through the bushes blindly, neither one knowing which way was right. He paused for a moment, trying to piece together the trail they took to enter the paddock, Harry waiting patiently beside him.

It was impossible, he didn’t know which way was left, if they were going north or south. Most importantly, he didn’t know which way to head towards that didn’t lead them further into the park. God knows what other chaos was happening in the other confines of the park. The paddock they were in now encompassed many acres, so it would be a while with their luck until they found something. And it would take an even longer time when the rain was still beating relentlessly down upon them.

He tugged Harry’s hand again, their shoes squishing through the runny mud every time they took another step forward. If he was only smart enough to have looked for a flashlight. But there wasn’t any time to think about could have beens; they needed to put as much space between them and the rex as possible, while also finding a gate that they could possibly find a way to open.

He was moving impossibly fast, the only thoughts running through his mind _find a way out find a way out._

Seconds turned into the longest and most anxious minutes of Louis’ life, guiding Harry through the brush with the prospect of an animal that could eat them somewhere in the vicinity.

He heard Harry say something, but over the rush of the rain it didn’t quite reach Louis’ ears. He choose to keep walking, so they kept moving, while turning his head head to look at Harry.

The “what?” was on the tip on his tongue when strong arms wrapped around his stomach and he was suddenly pulled back against a broad chest. Harry was crushing the spot under his ribs that had gotten injured, sending jolts of intense pain through his side.

He cried out, all but shoving Harry off of him. “What are you doing?” He panted, clutching the area that was giving him trouble.

“You weren’t stopping, Lou,” He seemed irritated. “You were about to walk off a cliff.”

What? That wasn’t right. “What do you mean I was about to walk off a cliff?” How could there even be a cliff in this paddock? Was Twist insane?

“I barely saw it before you were about to walk clean off it.” He sighed, scrubbing hand over his face. “Louis we can’t see anything in this rain. And I don’t want us accidentally falling to our deaths somewhere else.”

Louis still clutched at his ribs, breathing becoming difficult even as the pain slowly subsided.

“We need to find a place to wait until the rain stops.” Harry suggested.

Which no, that wouldn’t work. Did Harry not understand that they had a killing machine currently out there with them? “Harry we can’t, we need to find a way out.”

Harry just looked even more uneasy. “Louis, you’re hurt. You need to rest someplace. And we are not going to find anything as long as it’s raining as hard as it is. Our best chance of getting out of here alive is waiting until the rain stops and there is light out, that way we can actually see where we’re going. We’re walking blind right now.”

“But-”

“No buts,” he interrupted, turning Louis around and pushing him in front, becoming the guide. “We don’t need you straining yourself when you’re obviously hurt. You could have internal injuries or broken ribs for all we know.”

Louis was just about to ask where in the world were they going to wait it out, when Harry said, “I think I saw some type of cave a little ways back. C’mon.”

Okay first, when did Harry become the sensible one? And two, Louis was the leader here. No matter what was going on between him and Harry, Louis was the expert on all things dinosaur, and he took full responsibility on getting them out of the park alive.

He spun around, looking up into Harry’s tired eyes with a finger to his chest. “Okay fine. We’ll do it your way, only because my side hurts really bad and if we stay out here any longer we’ll get hypothermia and die.” He dug his finger in pushing Harry back a little. “And as soon as it stops raining and there is a sliver of light out, I’m getting us out of here, got it?”

Harry grabbed his finger, tugging it away from his chest with a smirk before he reached down and laced their fingers together. “Yes sir.”

“Good,” he replied, shaking off the momentary blush while Harry dragged him away in search of whatever “cave” he seemed to see earlier.

It didn’t take long for them to find it, something Louis bypassed pretty quickly before. He didn’t even notice it.

There wasn’t much to it, from what he could see of it. There were only four or five boulders that rested against each other to create a little hole in the middle. It wasn’t great, but it would do for the time being.

The pair stood in front of it, the information that they’d both actually have to enter the eery, dark cave hitting them. The rain fell sharply over Louis’ shoulders, making him shiver for the umpteenth time in the last two hours. To the left of him, Harry used his hands to shield his eyes from the rain momentarily as he peered into the dark cave. He turned to Louis, squinting,

“Do you want to go in first?”

Louis looked at Harry to the entrance and back to Harry, “Styles, this way your idea. I-”

“Oh I get it, you’re scared.” Harry cut him off, nodding seriously as he peered up the sky. Rain fell onto and rolled off the small smirk Louis could barely make out from where he stood. Louis narrowed his eyes.

“If I were scared, I wouldn’t be asking someone to go in first, would I?” He scoffed.

Harry flashed a shit-eating grin at him, “I was only being polite, Dr. Tomlinson.”

Louis marveled at how quickly he felt himself fall back into step with Harry. Their banter doing the job to calm them both down after the near-death episode they’d just experienced. He wondered if there was a way he could keep this man for any occasion where he’d need his calming services. Hopefully they extended to more than just banter.

“I’m still not going in first,” Louis rolled his eyes at the pleading face Harry made. Which one think he would have built immunity over since he’d dealt with Liam own version.

“Louis,” Harry stepped closer, his bottom lip prodding out to form a pout.   

Louis went in first, giving in painfully. He couldn’t help it, it was kind of endearing. He rolled his eyes, stepping over smaller rocks while trying not to trip in the pitch black of the cave. It was cold inside the cave but less without the icicles that had practically been pelted at him.

He sat down on one side, Harry maneuvering himself to sit on the other side, stretching his endless legs out in the cramped space. They were still wet, covered in mud, hurting, and didn’t know the extent of their injuries. There was also the fact that neither of them knew what was going on. One minute they were out trying to locate a missing para, and the next, there was a T-rex coming for them. When they got out of there he was going to have a very long chat with Edward Twist.

But now that his body stopped moving, he could admit to himself that he was actually very tired. His muscles were sore, and his back screamed in agony at the hardness of the cave wall. His eyes were slightly droopy, but he kept them open regardless of the addiction his body craved.

Harry was looking at him from across the cave, not in any particular way, just searching for something. “Are you okay, Lou?”

Louis coughed out a laugh, wiping the drenched fringe from his forehead. “Yeah I’ll be okay. You?”

He moved from where he was sitting to press next to Louis on his side. “I’m fine, it’s just…” He trailed off, snorting.

“It’s what?”

Harry looked at him then, smiling, “It’s just, crazy isn’t it? It doesn’t seem real, what just happened.”

“What,” Louis inquired, grin spreading across his face. “That we were nearly eaten by a Tyrannosaurus Rex?”

Harry laughed, pressing his face into his hands. “That we are at a theme park with creatures that are supposed to be extinct, and yeah, that we were almost eaten by a fucking T-rex.” Louis joined in with his laughs, as fucked up as it was. Oh well. Different people had different coping mechanisms.

“Do you think they’ll ask the visitors to pay extra for that?” Louis giggled, leaning his head on Harry’s shoulder.

Harry broke out into even greater laughs, slapping his hand over his knee. Louis wasn’t worried that the rex would hear them, what with the sounds of the rain booming around them. He was only a little worried that she would find them again, or worse, if the fences were really off, she could wander around any paddock she liked. It still made no sense.

Their laughter died out after a moment, the only sounds audible being the pitter patter of the rain and the ragged breaths they shared, enveloped with each other.

“Although,” Harry said seriously, “I’m glad that if I was going to be stuck in the middle of a dinosaur park, I’m glad it’s with a dinosaur expert. It doesn’t make me feel like I’m going to die so easily.”

Louis didn’t know what to say in response to that. Yes he was considered an expert on extinct dinosaurs, but being in their environment was a completely different thing. There was no telling how they really were. They could be the exact opposite of what Louis had been studying to believe his whole life. But he understood where Harry was coming from. Having him, as opposed to Keith (god rest his soul), was better, and put the chances much more on their side for getting out of this unscathed.

He finally hummed in reply, daring to link their pinkies together in his lap.

“I meant what I said last night at dinner,” Louis could feel the vibrations from his through where he rested his head. “That I was a fan of your work and that I’m glad grandad decided to bring you here, no matter how shitty it is right now. I know that if anyone can get us out of this mess, it’s you.”

Harry was so sincere that it took Louis aback. This was how he felt after only knowing Louis for a few days. It was a nice gesture, making Louis’ insides turn to goo. Even though he felt like Harry was putting too much trust into him, putting him on a pedestal he could never reach, he knew it was his duty to save his life.

“I’ll try my best, I promise.” Was all he could say into the depths of the cave.

“I know you will,” Harry whispered into his hair, carding his fingers through the messy fringe before leaning down to press his semi-chapped lips to his pulsing forehead.

"You kissed me back there." He said out of the blue.

Which yeah, that still happened. And it was in a moment of both fear and happiness, but he also hadn't crossed that boundary with Harry yet, so there was no telling what he was thinking.

He played it off, "No I didn't. There was just a bug on your face and I killed it for you.... with my lips." He couldn't hide the smile that grew even though he was obviously lying.

"You're so full of shit," Harry laughed, tugging on a piece of hair by his temple. Which was semi true. "You just don't want to admit that you can't live without me."

"In your dreams Styles."

"I plan on it, Dr. Tomlinson," he bit back cheekily.

Louis tilted his head to look at Harry’s, sleepy eyes glancing down at his lips, then back up at his tired blue hues.

Harry did the same thing, bringing his hand up to brush his thumb over Louis’ cheekbone. “Can I?” The mood was suddenly very serious with a heavy sense of something that resembled desire.

Louis nodded, watching the way Harry’s eyes closed as he bent down to move their lips so they were just a fraction apart. Louis wasted no time closing the rest of the distance between them, fucking it all and sealing their cold lips together in the darkness that drowned them.

It was the least rushed kiss they’d had. The volume of the rain seemed to cease as the only thing his brain could focus on was the feel of Harry’s lips on his. He revelled in the way Harry was so gentle with him, cradling the side of his face while they moved together. Eventually he brought his hands from where they were laying in his lap to Harry’s damp hair, fingers dancing through the unruly curls at the nape of his neck.

It was different than their first kiss, which was frantic and mostly all Louis’ doing. That one had been out of relief, and was the quickest peck he could manage. But the kiss they were sharing at the moment was slow and languid, both sides participating to make something more grow. It was a kiss that meant something, and Louis hoped that maybe one day they’d be able to do this away from the walls of Jurassic Park, on a date to the theater, or lazily on the side of the road while they walk hand in hand, not having to worry about whether or not a predator was nearby.

He pulled away first, untangling his hand from Harry’s hair. He set his head back against his shoulder. “I’m tired.”

“Go to sleep,” Harry said sleepily, moving Louis forward a bit to drape his arm around his back and pull him to his side. “I’ll keep watch for a little while.”

“Ok,” he yawned, eyes already drooping.

* * *

 

The voice crackled over the radio before cutting off and drowning the car in silence once more, the sound of rain filling in the emptiness.

“What do you think happened?” Liam asked, his face projecting worry and a bit of fear.

Zayn shook his head, he didn’t want to believe what he thought happened, was probably happening at that moment. There were only a few ways any of the dinosaurs could get out of their paddocks, so the answer was obvious.

“The storm must have cut off all the power, some of the fences have probably gone out.”

As the words left his mouth, Zayn could feel himself freeze up at the thought of what was going on further into the park. The current danger he and Liam were in as they sat in the stopped car was on levels he’s sure no one who worked for the park thought was possible. He could feel only a small amount of relief as he remembered that the power generated for the raptor enclosure sourced from a separate generator away from the main one.

In different circumstances Zayn would have found the face Liam pulled comical, the way his eyes practically bulged out of his skull and how his mouth parted in shock.

“So,” He held the word out as he looked out the window, “there’s pretty much nothing separating us from 30 ft tall dinosaurs?”

Liam leaned back in his seat, Zayn guessed it would take a while for the man to properly digest the information. The next thing Zayn needed to do was get them to the control room, evacuation wasn’t likely since the last ferry had already left for the day. Twist would probably know what to do, and if not, the control room was the safest place on the park right now.

He turned the key and felt the car start up. He maneuvered the car slowly at first, lest they run into another one of the roaming animals. The windshields were working over the glass at full speed as Zayn pressed his foot down on the acceleration. Driving was hard when heavy winds were pushing against the vehicle.

Liam sat quietly next to him, looking out the window as if another dinosaur would pop out at them any second. Every few minutes the automated announcement would repeat over the radio, sending Zayn further into a spiral of anxiety.  

Zayn hoped no permanent damage had been done inside the park yet, and that nobody had been hurt. It was a shiver-inducing thought but Zayn had no doubt it would be possible if the power was out for much longer.

He glanced at the map and noticed that the birdcage was a little bit up ahead. He informed Liam that they were going to stop there to check if anyone needed a ride or maybe knew any other information on the park’s status, since Niall's team had been working there throughout the day.

“Ok, yeah,” was Liam’s reply. Zayn outstretched a hand towards him, laying it on his shoulder in what hoped was a reassuring gesture. They looked at each other for a moment before Zayn tore his gaze away and removed his hand, placing it on the shift stick instead.

Finding the bird cage wasn’t hard. He’d made the trip almost on the daily because Niall had been so adamant that they spend their lunch breaks together. So the route was mostly muscle memory for Zayn, rain be damned.

Ten minutes later the large dome was visible through the heavy sheets of rain. Every once in awhile Zayn would think the rain was letting up, until they’d drive another few feet and the beating on the roof became earsplitting again. Conversation was cut short between the pair due to the sheer noise from outside. The few glances he chanced at Liam let Zayn know enough that the man was not the biggest fan of thunderstorms. Truth be told, neither was Zayn. Anything water related ran shivers up his spine, but he didn’t need to let Liam know that. One of them had to keep a semblance that they knew what they were doing.

He slowed the car to a stop right in front of the bird cage. Not minutes later, a figure was scurrying out and heading towards their vehicle. This figure seemed to be more human-like than whatever it was they encountered earlier.

Blond hair and blue eyes were leaning against the glass on Liam’s side. Zayn could see Niall’s mouth moving, but the glass and rain were preventing them from hearing anything. He muttered a “sorry,” to Liam before rolling the window down, immediately letting in the cold winds and rain, successfully ruining his leather seats.

“Did you get my message to the control room? I didn’t think anything was going through.”

Niall squinted through the water running down his face from the sopping mess on his head, “Hi Liam.”

Liam nodded at him covering his face as the rain hit his side.

“We’re heading toward the control room right now, they’re calling for evacuation.” Zayn shook his head, leaning over Liam to be heard over the roaring winds.

Niall backed away gesturing that he roll the window back up and then he was climbing into the back seat, dripping water all over the tools Zayn had stored.

“Great, you can take me. Can you believe my team didn’t think to leave me a car when they left for the weekend, Jesus Christ turn the heat up.” He turned around and shuffled a few things in the trunk, looking for the Jurassic Park hoodie Zayn kept there.

He looked almost blue in the weak glow of the dashboard, his hair was plastered to his forehead and his cheeks had turned red against the pelting the raindrops. Zayn’s hand moved automatically towards the heating crank.

“Do you have any idea what’s going on?” Liam spoke up after a few minutes passed as they tried to shake off the rain that had poured in.

“Haven’t got a clue. One minute I’m doing checks on the gates, and the next red lights are going off and I’m stranded at the cage.”

Niall and Liam kept talking as Zayn started moving the car forward. The path to the control room from the birdcage was shorter and not as deep into the trees than the one they would’ve taken before. This way they wouldn’t risk getting lost or encountering anymore rouge dinosaurs, hopefully.

Zayn had driven maybe ten feet from the birdcage when a clap of thunder shook the ground, causing him to swerve the car left from the sheer force of it. He heard Niall shout and Liam outstretched his arm to balance himself against the car door.

“What the hell?” Zayn heard Niall over the hammering of his heart. He regained control over the steering wheel, placing the car in park and taking the key out for good measure. He was about to ask the other two if they were alright when another roaring clap resounded through the rain. Zayn panicked internally that what they were experiencing was actually an earthquake, that Allah had finally decided to punish them for messing with the balance of nature.

It’s the third clap of thunder that brought Zayn back to his senses, and he realized that it wasn’t thunder or an earthquake shaking the ground. It was the sound of something much larger, and it was probably heading their way. His mind reeled over the possible things it could be. His blood ran cold as he looked out the front window, hoping his suspicion was anything but right.

All he saw was rain and the swaying trees in the distance. He scanned the landscape, thinking if there were a thirty foot tall dinosaur, it would be easier to spot.

“Um. Zayn.”

He turned at the sound of Liam’s frantic tone. He was staring wide-eyed into the rear view mirror on his side of the car. Zayn whipped his head back, hardly repressing the scream that died in his throat at the sight. " _Haraamzadi..._ " _Son of a bitch..._

Niall, on the other hand, shrieked at the top of his lungs and jolted backwards into the back of Liam’s seat. A slew of curses followed before Zayn reached over and clamped a hand over his mouth.

“Shut up, and don’t move,” Zayn warned him.

The three men watched the t-rex move closer, the ground beneath them shaking with every step. She didn’t seem to be heading directly towards them, the lack of headlights allowing their car not fall into her attention.

She was closer to the birdcage than she was from their vehicle. Zayn let out a ragged breath when her head turned in their direction for a split second before turning back to the large dome she was about ten feet from. Through the misted glass Zayn could see the silhouettes of the winged animals flying from treetop to treetop. He saw some of the smaller ones fly downwards, probably to seek shelter from what they knew was approaching them.

Zayn wasn’t the only one who saw them, though. The t-rex had stopped right in front of the dome and was lowering her body towards it, she tilted her head while her eyes followed the movement of the birds inside. She righted herself upwards again, moments passed that had Zayn gripping Niall’s arm.

He wasn’t expecting it when the dino threw her head back in a thunderous roar, loud enough to be heard over the downpour. The volume of it had him wincing, but not daring to move an inch even though the carnivore seemed to be occupied by something else.

The next thing happened so suddenly, Zayn almost missed it. The t-rex nudged her head against the dome once testing the feel, before she pulled back and smashed her skull into the glass surface. Niall wheezed, his hands coming up to cradle his face in shock.

“Is she…. is she breaking the barrier?” Liam gasped, rubbing the condensation away from the passenger side window.

Before anyone could answer him, the dinosaur decided to afflict the birdcage two more times in quick succession, and then stumbled back to inspect her damage. She had opened a good third of the dome, leaving the tall trees and fog to be exposed to the rampant weather of outside. It was hard to hear anything, but Zayn could barely make out the crows and own roars coming from the broken birdcage.

If Zayn had gazed away from the giant dinosaur standing next to the rubble of her destruction any later he would have missed the two winged figures lifting up into the clouded sky and soaring over their car towards the central area of the island.

He felt numb all over as acknowledgment washed over him like rain that two enormous birds were now loose somewhere in the park, along with a destructive tyrannosaurus rex. They sat paralyzed for a minute before Liam gasped,

“We need to get out of here.”

Zayn nodded stiffly, letting go of Niall’s arm and sitting back in front of the steering wheel. He paused. They couldn’t just start the car and zoom off, that much commotion would definitely attract the rampant dinosaur’s attention. Their only other choice was wait for her to walk away, hopefully in the opposite direction they were headed.

Zayn took the opportunity to shake out his hands, that were cold and clammy.

“The second she turns around, we’ll be off,” he assured the other two. He glanced at Liam, who was still fixated on the rear-view mirror, face pale as a sheet.

“Hey, we’re going to be fine,” Zayn placed his hand back on the junction of Liam’s neck, getting his attention. “I’ll get us out of here, yeah?”

He tried to feel as sure as he sounded. It seemed to work though, Liam’s eyes cleared for the time being, fear subsiding in the way he slumped back into his seat. Zayn’s hand staying for a couple of minute, squeezing once before he removed it and turned to face Niall.

“How you holding up, Niall?”

Niall shivered in response, he had pulled the hoodie up and was leaning with his back to Liam’s as to not lose sight of the t-rex.

“They’re out there somewhere, they’ve never been out in the wild.” He sighed, snuggling deeper into the cotton. “I’m not the bird specialist but I spend a lot of time around those animals, and I know they’re dangerous as hell but they’re kept inside those enclosures for their own safety too, you know?”

Zayn stopped the flooding of thoughts about the dinosaurs that were under his responsibility, he’d rather not dwell on the possibility of them being out of their enclosures. He shook his head,

“I wouldn’t worry too much about them, they did survive on this planet for longer than the human race even existed.”  

“I’m not so much worried about them,” Niall explained, glancing back at Zayn. “I’m more worried about us, since you know, they’re the one with the teeth.”

Liam shifted uncomfortably in his seat, tearing his panicked gaze away from the mirror to meets Zayn’s. “There’s gotta be something we can do. We can’t just let her wander around, she could go into any paddock and set the other animals loose.”

Fuck, none of this was any good. There was no way for them to come out of this with the park and the animals still intact. But there was nothing they could do, he didn’t have his equipment with him to get the animal under control. Not to mention his guns wouldn’t work on the rex to begin with because they were only suited for the raptors, and he himself had no experience with how to handle a tyrannosaurus rex.

“Liam, we aren’t trained for this kind of situation. Mr. Twist has a whole system devised for if something like this were to happen. They’ll likely be starting that now. The only thing that we have to do is stay alive.”

He looked like he wanted to protest, but in the end, Zayn was right. They were only three unequipped men that could never amount to a dinosaur of the rex’s shear capacity. Liam nodded his head and Niall remained silent, watching through the back window like a hawk.

“I think she’s gone,” he said after a moment, voice shaking. “It looks like she followed one of the pteranodons. That should keep her occupied for a while.”

Okay, then. He took one look back just to be sure, deciding that they were good, for now. “Let’s get out of here.”

The car started momentarily, Zayn waiting for the rush of the engine and the flash if the headlights before taking off. He disregarded the signs that were stationed all over the park that read ‘30 mph’, going nearly three times the speed limit. It might have been dangerous, since it was still storming outside and the road was slick, but he wasn’t about to let anything catch up with them.  

In less than fifteen minutes they’d made it back to the concealed control center, darting through the unrelenting rain to access the main room. They were soaking wet and frazzled by the time they entered, heaving with each breath they took, both out of exhaustion and horror from what they’d just witnessed.

A multitude of eyes from Twist, Nick, Perrie, and a few other workers he didn’t know the names of were startled up at them, Zayn not giving any of them the chance to speak before he heaved, “What the hell is going on out there?”

He looked around to see the wide eyes and black screens, the tension in the room was so thick they could cut it with a knife.

“Malik, I need you to calm down and listen to what I’m about to tell you,” Twist eyed him carefully, waiting for Zayn to nod his head before continuing. Zayn wasn’t going to like what he was about to say, was he? “There’s been a hack in the system. A lot of the programs are offline, including some of the fences. We’re working to get them back online immediately. Nothing to be worried about.”

Zayn stepped back, running those sentences through his mind again. There was a hack that had caused the fences to go out, not the storm, like he predicted. But what he just said, ‘nothing to be worried about’, he really didn’t know did he?

By the way Niall and Liam were gaping at his boss, he knew they were thinking the same thing. He swallowed to moisten the dryness of his throat. “Boss, you are really way in over your head if you think there’s nothing to be worried about.”

“What do you mean?”

“What do I mean?” Zayn was speechless at the naivety that came from the old man before him. He pointed to the doors raising his voice, which silences the other conversations in the room. “Sir, the ‘few’ fences that went out must have included the T-rex, because I just watched as she attacked the birdcage.”

If he thought the room was quiet before, there was a chance they’d be able to hear a pin drop now.

“What did you say?” He gasped.

Zayn licked his lips before continuing, “The rex, sh-she’s out of her paddock. She broke through the glass of the birdcage, a few got out, but that was it.”

Twist seemed to consider his reply for a moment, running his fingers through his thinning hair. He turned to Nick. “Try Keith again. Make sure they’re on their way back, now!”

“Yessir,” Nick muttered, relaying the message through the two-way radio.

Then a terrifying thought came to him, and he wondered how he could have ever skipped over it. “The raptor fences aren’t out are they?” They were the most dangerous creatures on this island, if he was honest. At least with the rex, they could find a weakness from its vision and it’s slower speeds. But the raptors were fast and agile, able to round on their prey within seconds.

“No, no.” Perrie reassured him, pulling up the systems lines of code. “We made sure that one was still on when we checked the security. We’re still monitoring, but so far all we know are out are paddocks two, five, eight and nine, and now the tyrannosaur one.”

He exhaled, feeling Niall come up to a seat next to him. He turned to see Liam searching around the room. He paused at Twist, wide-eyed and lips parted. “Where’s Louis?”

The missing presence of Dr. Tomlinson was startling, to say the least. They should have already been back from the tour by now. And now that he glanced around, he realized neither Harry nor the lawyer were there.

The three workers went quiet, Perrie and Nick sharing a quick look. Zayn could already tell it wouldn’t be good news of what they were about to share.

“Before any of the gates went out, they went to recover a parasaurolophus that had been escaping from it’s enclosure lately,” explained Perrie, she pointed to Zayn, “remember that one you assisted Keith with last week.”

Zayn nodded.

“Well, she escaped again, this morning. Keith went out to find her and Dr. Tomlinson was assigned to the case as well, Mr. Styles volunteered to help out.” She finished with a nervous look at Liam, who had made a noise when Tomlinson was mentioned.

“Wait, so Louis is out there? While the gates are down and there’s rampant dinosaurs walking around? And you aren’t doing anything about it?” Each word became more and more stressed, anger venomous on his tongue.

One look at Liam’s face and you could tell he was livid, he wore such a calm anger that it was more terrifying than if his features were twisted up and red.

“The radios got cut off. But, I’m more than sure they received the signal to evacuate. For all we know they could be making their way back as we speak,” Nick tried to soothe.

“We don’t even know if they’re alive or not! Why haven’t you sent a search and rescue team by now? How long have they even been gone?” Liam’s volume had increased as he glared daggers at Nick.

Grimshaw just gulped, carefully eyeing the muscles bulging from Liam’s shirt. He needed to think about what he said next in case the paleobotanist decided to connect his fist to Nick’s face. Instead Liam abruptly turned to face Twist. He pointed an accusing finger at the older man,

“You said this park was safe. You went on and on about the park’s state of the art security system. And now you’ve got dinosaurs as tall as skyscrapers running a muck, and my best friend and your grandson are out there and you don’t even seem to care?”

Liam advanced towards the man, but before he could do anything in his angered state, Zayn reached out and pulled him away from the group with both hands gripping his arms.

He moved Liam towards the set of desks near the wall and pushed him into a swivel chair. Liam had tried to pull away from his hold but eventually gave in and slumped into the seat when Zayn had prompted him. Zayn stood over him and watched the man run his hands of his face, sighing into them.

He understood Liam’s worry, but they wouldn’t be able to go out into the storm to look for Dr. Tomlinson. There was no way to know where exactly in the park they would be. He knew Liam wouldn’t be against going out to find his friend himself, Zayn had to make sure that in  no way happened. As if on cue Liam sat up and looked straight at Zayn,

“We have to go save them.”

Zayn started shaking his head, “Not in this weather. It’s way too risky, and with the added rouge dinosaurs it’s a death wish.”

Liam gave him a pleading look, his face crumpling into a look that almost made Zayn backtrack and agree. Zayn held his ground though and stared Liam down.

“After the storm, then, and not a second after,” Liam sighed as he leaned back, “He’s my best friend I can’t just sit here when he could be in danger.”

Zayn felt a tug at his heartstrings at that. Liam and Tomlinson were obviously good friends, he could only empathize with the worry Liam was feeling.

“Liam, I’m just trying to look out for you." He couldn't have Liam freaking out now, in front of everyone. He needed him stable. He needed them all stable. " _Jaan_ , listen to me. I’ll go with you to find them. And, we will find them.” Zayn explained, mentally slapping himself after accidentally calling Liam 'darling' in Urdu. But at least he wouldn't know what it meant since he did not likely know the language.

Liam nodded, a little confused by the name, but still offered him a weak smile. Before either of them could say anything more, Nick was interrupting them with a shout that had them rushing back to the group.

“What happened, did the radios come back?” Liam asked.

“Not yet, but Nick’s found a way to fix them,” Twist replied, as the man in question hunched over his computer screen with furrowed eyebrows.

“Well, sort of. It could bring back the radio signals and whatever else has been bugged but,” Nick hesitated and pushed a few keys before continuing, “there’s the possibility it could actually make matters worse.”

“What do you mean?” Zayn walked up behind Nick trying to decipher the codes on the screen. Not that he knew what any of them meant.

“I would have to restart the entire park system to override the codes that caused this mess. But if I did that, all the park’s power will be out for however long it takes for it to start up again. That means the lights, AC, anything running on electricity will be shut down. Including all the remaining fences.”

Liam was a second from protesting but was cut off when Nick put a hand up so he could continue.

“I won’t do that, though. It’s way too dangerous now. I’ll try to fix the codes by hand, so far nothing’s been working but I’m still trying. If the storm passes and I haven’t figured out these codes yet, I think it’ll be our only choice.”

“We’ll just have to wait until morning, and play it by ear.”

When morning came and there was still no progress, Nick prayed they weren’t making a disastrous mistake. He flipped the power switch, and the entire room went black.

* * *

 

When Louis woke up, it was to the feeling of something warm and sticky pressing against the side of his face. While quite still sleep induced, it vaguely felt reminiscent of a tongue. It stopped suddenly, and Louis figured he’d just carried it over from a dream he might have had; he couldn’t remember it now.

He laid there, feeling the press of Harry’s warm body next to his. His eyes remained closed, tiredness doing it’s best to overpower him. Then the tongue was back, licking stripes up and down the side of his cheek. His skin was sufficiently wet, saliva coating his face from his chin to his nose, droplets weaving their way between his eyelashes.

It was gross and probably not sanitary, and it had to end now.

“Harry….” He groaned, blindly tapping the boy’s chest next to him. That display of affection was not appropriate, and quite frankly, it was disgusting. But the licks kept coming.

“Harry stop…..”

He brought his hand up to remove Harry’s tongue from his face, pushing back until he felt an unfamiliar scaly skin texture, followed by what was definitely not a human nose.

He pulled his hand back in shock, eyes springing open. He shot up from his position, the now dim light of the morning obscuring his vision, causing him to tumble over a skinny pair of legs.

It was a reflex in a moment of fear, one he hoped wouldn’t hurt them because the animal that licked his face could very well have been the Tyrannosaurus.

Louis looked to the opening of the cave at the same time Harry grunted awake from having his giraffe legs fallen onto.

And it seemed so trivial that he was frightened a moment before, because standing behind a rock in front of him was the adolescent parasaurolophus, hunched over on it’s front legs, motionlessly searching them for any signs of aggression.

“Wha-” Harry began, sleepily rubbing his eyes like a baby would.

Louis cut him off with a, “shush,” pointing to the animal that curiously stood before them. It was miraculous that she was able to find them, and in all reality, Louis had completely forgotten that she was still in the paddock somewhere. He smiled brightly, thankful that she wasn’t harmed by the rex.

“Hey girl,” he whispered, holding his hand out for her to sniff. She cautiously stepped closer, hands planting beside his knee as she brought her snout to his clammy palm.

“I can’t believe she’s still alive,” he said as she began licking along his hand and fingers. He muffled a laugh into his shoulder, wanting not to scare her off.

She was utterly stunning, and the fact that he got to view her like this, feel her like this, so open and unafraid made something swell deep inside him. It was a nice scenic change and mood lifter from what they’d had last night. He revelled in it, even though he knew deep down it would only last for a moment. He wished there was something they could do to help her return to her pack, but with the threat of a loose Tyrannosaur, the possibility seemed unlikely.

Louis dared to rub his hand over the crest on the back of her head, ghosting over her snout on the way. He beamed when she nuzzled into him, rubbing circles into her skin.

Harry motioned his hand out to her next, a grin pulled at both sides of his mouth. It was immediately replaced by a frown when the para raked her eyes over his body and squaked.

“What did I do?” He asked at the same time the herbivore trotted back out into the paddock.

Louis laughed, “She’s probably scared because she remembers you from yesterday. You startled her quite a bit, and they have proven to have very detailed memories.” He glanced back at the disappointed expression of the boy next to him, the sunlight dancing along the panes of his features. Since it was clear enough from the light, Louis was able to accurately assess just how bad Harry’s injuries were.

There were a few cuts that lined his face, each one deeper than the next. One over his cheekbone, one large scrape above his right eye, and a few smaller ones encompassed the base of his neck. He could also see the formation of a lightly shaded bruise under his left eye. That didn’t even account for what could have been lingering under what he was wearing.

“How does your side feel this morning?” Harry asked him, reaching out to wipe the dried blood from the cut on his lip.

Louis groaned internally, not being able to forget the trauma that developed on his his side. He was careful while he slept in the night not to lay on it, because he had already felt the beginnings of a bruise. “It’s fine,” he lied, lifting his shirt up to prove his point.

Which would have worked in his favor, if there hadn’t been a sickly, dark purple and blue bruise that stretched from under his pec to the bottom of his ribcage. It was at least three inches in diameter, and it rubbed him sorely with every breath he took and every movement he made.

But he was good with pain, mostly. It didn’t seem as bad as it could have been, so he chose to disregard it, even though he knew it needed to be looked at. At least there wasn’t any internal bleeding, he thought; if there had been he’d’ve probably been dead already.

Harry padded his fingers over the injury, causing Louis to wince slightly. "Well regardless of if you feel fine or not, we need to get some medical attention. Grandad's probably sent out a few teams by now to look for us, and get the dinosaur under control. He's said before they're well prepared if something like this were to happen."

Louis wanted to add a snarky comment about how if they were really well prepared the dinosaur would not have been able to escape its paddock in the first place, but because it was Harry and he could see he still had some sort of trust in his grandfather, he bit his tongue.

"Okay we need to find a way out." Louis rose to his feet, cautiously stepping through the dense rocks he had nearly tripped over the night before.

Harry followed right behind, his presence becoming somewhat expected now, not just because he was relying on Louis to get them out alive.

The sun barely teetered over the vast horizon, painting the skies with warm colors of orange and pink. He estimated that it could be anywhere between six and nine am, since he was no expert on the time the sun rose in Costa Rica.

Which meant they’d spent half a day out in the dangerous recesses of the park. Out where god knows what was going on. Out there where people were dying.

They moved slowly at first, careful to remain hidden in case the rex was still in the paddock. Although they would be alerted to her presence rather quickly since the force of her walking was great enough to cause the ground to quake.

Louis was relieved when there appeared to be nothing around. That meant they would be able to walk around freely without any sort of disruption. For now.

“So, which way do we go?” Harry asked in a monotonous tone.

Louis’ brain reeled over the possible ways they could go about this. They could continue they way they tired last night, and not almost fall to his death that time around, or they could try and find the way they first came in with Keith. But then an even better idea came to his mind.

“We should try and find the car,” he suggested. It sounded crazy, since that’s the place the rex attacked them, but in his professional opinion he knew carnivores never attacked the same place twice. So IF she was still around, it wasn’t likely she would come back to that spot. “There could be something there we could use, if it’s still intact. Besides, we were around the edge of the fences. If we follow them, we can probably find the gate we entered through.”

Harry seemed nervous at first, but became content with the information as Louis explained it in detail. He nodded, accepting Louis’ proposition. Harry looked so young and trusting, putting all his faith in Louis like he did. It sent a jolt of uneasiness and worry through his heart because he knew that if he failed this boy, he’d never forgive himself.

He shook off the thought, toughening up to lead them back to the safety of the control room. He led Harry through the knee-length grass that grew in the area, listening to Harry spout off these quirky facts about the types of grass they were crunching over. Apparently he wasn’t lying about minoring in the whole ‘turfgrass management’ thing. It was weird, but a nice distraction from the fear of being spotted by the carnivorous dinosaur again.

It was only a few minutes before they stumbled upon the jeep, mutilated in it’s wake. Now that they could see clearly, they noticed what they couldn’t last night in the rain. The tires were ripped to shreds, the roof was crushed, the sides were dented in, and the bumper and headlights were completely torn apart. Even the ‘Jurassic Park’ logo on the side was completely unreadable.

It was hard to think that what had happened was just last night. It was almost too hard to look at the demolished car, unwanted memories plaguing his thoughts. He willed them away instead, walking around the car once to inspect its damage.

“There really isn’t much here,” he said, picking up the two-way radio from before, or what used to be the two-radio. He held the remains in his palm, frowning down at it.

“All that’s here is glass, damn.” He kicked a shard from what looked like the windshield with the toe of his vans, standing with his hands on his hips. It was worth a try.

They moved past the jeep after nothing useful was discovered, Louis leading them hopefully towards the front of the paddock. He traced his steps from the previous day, eventually stumbling upon the area of the fence that was split in two.

He shuddered as the gruesome memory of Keith getting caught in the dinosaur’s jaw resurfaced, pinching his eyes shut to block the images. It was still fresh and in his mind, the scene playing out before him when he finally managed to open them.

He wanted to run, scream, cry, just to take back what happened. He couldn’t help but think about how scared Keith must have been in the moments before his life ended, body wedged between the teeth of the deadly animal.

He wondered if Keith had a family back home. If he had a wife and kids, even grandkids,  that waited for him to come back when work was over, if they would be getting a call in the immediate future telling them the impending news that he was never coming home. It might have been selfish, but he hoped he didn’t have anyone close to him to be devastated by his death.

A warm hand gripped his shoulder, Harry sensing what was causing him to freeze up. “You okay?”

Louis was grateful for Harry’s calming presence, it gave him something to anchor himself to the ground. But truth was, he would probably never be okay after seeing the man killed in front of him, in the exact spot where they were standing.

“No, I’m not,” his voice broke on the last word, blinking back tears as his throat constricted. “He didn’t deserve that. No one deserves what happened to him. And I just…”

Harry was looking down at him with a face of remorse and mostly sympathy, mouth parting slightly, only to shut as if he didn’t have the right words to say. Or just had no way to understand how Louis was feeling.

“I just…. have to get out of here. We need to get out of here.”

Louis made the first move, not bothering to wait for Harry’s reaction. He really just needed to leave that area before he ended up puking again.

They crossed into the parasaurolophus enclosure through the broken fence, feeling like it was the safer solution. If they were going to follow the fence to find a way out, they were going to do so on the side with the herbivores. Of course there was the unsettling fact that the T-rex could have wandered back into their paddock during the night, but odds were probably not. It all came down to chance, and they really didn’t have any either way.

“If we just follow the fence, I’m sure it’ll lead us to the front of the paddock. We'll find a way out from there,” Louis said, hands shaking through his grungy hair. As soon as they were safe he was catching the first ride off the island and checking into a nice hotel so he could spend the entire day in the shower. “And since the track for the tour runs right through here, we can just follow that back until we reach the buildings.”

Harry nodded, “Ok.”

There wasn’t much said after that, as they followed the lines of the wires. It was a calm sort of quiet, neither one of them needing to say anything, yet there wasn’t a sense of awkwardness in the air. It was just easy.

They reached an incline in the land, finding themselves perched upon a tall slope, the view of a low valley splaying out below them. The landscape was stunning, the marshy plains spanning out for a few acres. Maple and palm trees filled the land, congregating around a small murky pond that nestled by an area of the fence. Liam would have shit his pants if he was in Louis’ position then.

It wasn’t until the ground vibrated beneath their feet that one of them made a noise.

“Is that the Tyrannosaur?” Came from Harry, fear cascading through his words.

“No, it’s not,” Louis assured him, placing a calming hand on his back. It was too many feet to belong to just one dinosaur. The way their feet pitter pattered across the ground indicated they were also comparably smaller in size. “Just listen.”

He did, crouching over with his hands over his knees, curiously glancing down into the valley where Louis was now pointing. “Right there!”

A herd of parasaurolophus ran out from their shade of the trees, dozens honking along the way. Their powerful hind legs propelled them forward as they moved as one, flocking together just as present day birds would.

“Jesus,” Louis whispered, eyes in awe. It was still overwhelming that he was actually witnessing it right then. He followed their movements, they way they elegantly turned their bodies at the same time to go in a different direction, the bird-like instinct in them taking over.

“What is it?” Harry wondered.

“It’s just, these creatures are so pure,” he watched happily as a little one hobbled along in the back of the group, struggling to keep up. It’s mother, Louis assumed, was there in an instant, pushing the baby along until they caught up with the herd.

“It’s tragically beautiful,” he didn’t know how to make sense of his feelings.

“They are immaculate creatures, and I have so much respect for them. But they don’t know what century they’re in, and they can’t possibly understand what’s going on here. They’re just animals in a cage, not being able to live like nature allowed them to.”

A gust of wind blew the hair back from his temples as he sighed, not wanting to seem like a downer. He thought Harry would understand what he was trying to say, because he knew he shared the same opinion as him. And it was too much all at once. Twist honestly had no idea what he was dealing with when he planned and executed the overall dream of this park.

“I’m sorry,” was all Harry said, though Louis could hear the emotion raging in his voice. He felt the apology, worry, anger, and understanding all at once. Harry took his hand in his, lacing their fingers together.

He felt calmer instantly, having Harry there. The contact and comfort he gave made everything just a little more bearable.

He glanced up to see if he could read the younger boy’s face, giving him a tight-lipped, drained smile when their eyes met. He motioned his head in the direction away from the herd below them, “Let’s get going then.”

Not another word was spoken between the two as they started walking alongside the fence, both understanding that there was a hint of tension that rested in the air. Not between them, but more on account of the unresolved feelings they had with the park.

Because the sun had now completely risen overhead, a wave of heat rained down on them, Louis wishing he had went for his pair of shorts the previous day instead of jeans. The humidity mixed with their sweaty bodies to make it even worse, inviting a few tiny little friends to fly down and bite their skin.

That wasn’t the bad part though. The worst part was the tugging in his stomach and the fact that his mouth had gone so dry that not even his saliva was enough to compensate for it.

Harry kicked at the occasional pebble as they walked, mumbling some sort of tune to himself. He was absentmindedly tying his hair into a bun when Louis squealed with joy.

“Thank god!” Harry pulled his hands away from his hair to look at what stood before them. Just in the distance, no more than a few meters away, was the front of the paddock, and just past that, beyond the fence, was the dirt road and track that they had taken the day before around the park.

They jogged up to the cemented metal, relief flooding their veins and smiles illuminating their faces. Now all they had to do was find a way around it.

“Maybe there’s a gate somewhere nearby…” said Louis, peering around the perimeter.  His eyes scanned through the fence. Maybe there was another gate like in paddock nine that could lead them out. But then that one would probably need an access code which they didn’t have, so either way they were stuck.

He stood contemplating the notion with his hands on his hips when Harry suddenly started leaning closer to the fence.

“Do you hear that?”

Louis was confused again, because there was no sound around them as far as he knew.

“I don’t hear anything.”

“Exactly,” he said, planting his hands at the concrete base of the fence. He pushed himself up so he was standing on the base, face mere inches away from wire that were charged with ten thousand volts of electricity.

“It means they’re still off then.” Which didn’t make sense to Louis until he remembered what was said over the walkie before the attack, about how the fences went out.

Harry moved to grab the fence, Louis only able to mutter a, “Harry wait!”, before he latched his hands at the wires.

Then Harry was screaming. His voice broke through the air and shot Louis’ eardrums, who was standing in shock because _what the fuck_ and _no_ Harry can’t get electrocuted right when they’ve found a way back.  

“Harry no!”

His hands were shaking and he was still holding onto the fence, Louis a minute away from a full on heart attack. Because Harry was stupid and grabbed a fence that was surging with electricity and Louis couldn’t move and then-

And then Harry’s screams died out and he hunched over, gasping into his arm. Louis felt tears prickle and he didn’t know what to do because if he touched Harry at all he’d get shocked too and he was scared and Harry was laughing now which was rude because he was terrified and….. Then his mind caught up.

Harry was laughing. No tears, just an uncontrolled amount of giggles escaping his mouth. He stood up straight, turning to Louis. He had one hand still holding the fence and the other on his cocked hip, shit eating grin mocking him.

“Harry fucking Styles!” Louis erupted, embarrassment and anger venomously dripping from his voice. His heart ruptured against his chest, hand coming up to steady his erratic rhythm.

“That wasn’t fucking funny, you dick!” He wanted to reiterate how mad he was since Harry was still laughing at him, but only managed to punch his calf, which only made him laugh harder.

“C’mon, that was a once in a lifetime chance. I had to do it!”

Louis rolled his eyes at him, moving to join the _unfunny_ man on the concrete. “I’ll never forgive you for that.”

He snuck a pinch to Harry’s shoulder while looking up at the metal and wires that stretched what he estimated was around forty feet high. He really, really, did not want to do what they were going to have to.  

“Looks like climbing is our only way out.” Harry said, rubbing his arm.

“I’m sure there’s another way…” He wished he wasn’t born with an intensive fear of heights, or that it would miraculously stop giving him anxiety as he faced the impending action.

Harry seemed to consider that idea for a bit, but then in the distance a deep roar rumbled the trees. That ended the conversation abruptly. “Nope. Not anymore, get climbing.”

Okay, okay, okay, he could do this. It was just simple steps. Even though the wires were thin, they were strong, right? They had to be to keep the animals caged in. There was no way his weight would be strong enough to break it. Okay, he could do this.

Harry was already a third of the way up when he finally got his footing right. He took deep breaths, telling himself not to look down. He just needed to think about the fact that the Tyrannosaurus was not too far away and could find them at any moment.

It didn’t help that much. Instead of just his fear of heights raging, the fear of the dinosaur from before joined in, stomach churning in ways he wished it didn’t.

He looked up to see Harry swinging his legs over the other side, while he was only at the halfway point. God, he hated himself for shutting down like that.

Louis pulled himself a few more steps up, eyes accidentally glancing down. The first sight of the ground from where he was, even though it wasn’t really that high had him stoned in fear, rooted to the spot.

Harry sensed his troubles, descending down to reach Louis’ level on the other side of the fence. Their faces were inches away, yet not close enough for Louis to fixate his focus on him, separated by the contraption they were holding onto.

“Hey hey hey…” He cooed, reaching through the small gaps to make Louis look up at him. Louis finally braved enough to met his gaze. “Babe, you’ve got to keep going, unless you want to be-”

“Yeah I know,” Louis interrupted, feeling both really scared and stupid by his own actions. “I just, well I don’t know if you noticed, but I have a slight fear of heights.”

Harry chuckled, “Yeah I noticed.” Great, now Harry was laughing at him. If only he wasn’t an adorable idiot, then Louis could actually be mad at him like he wanted to.

“I’ll help guide you over just um... just pretend it’s a really big rockwall. You ever go rock climbing?”

“I hate rock walls.” He smiled shyly.

Harry looked over his shoulder when there was another sound in the background. He didn’t look as worried as he should have been, so Louis assumed the carnivore wasn’t nearby. Yet.

“Okay yeah, fuck rock walls.” He said to fill the air while he thought of another analogy. “I can’t think of anything else to elude this to. All I can say is that I know it’s scary, but once you get over this, then that’s one step closer to getting out of here. You can get off this island and go home, Louis. Imagine your family is right down there and they’re waiting for you to come home. You’ve got to do it Louis.”

His grip tightened on the wire. He let in an unsteady breath, then let it back out. Harry was right. He started climbing.

It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t as hard either, with Harry leading him, keeping his hands near Louis’ at all times. He met Harry at the top shakily, trying to steady both his hands and his breathing.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Harry joked, easing Louis’ nerves a little. His hand found its way to Louis’ side as he swung his leg over the top, stepping down so they were finally at the same pace. “You’re doing so good Lou. You’re almost there, I’ve got ya.”

Louis felt better at that, confidence taking over his motor functions. If the hard part was over, then he could manage the rest of the way without a hitch. He and Harry worked their way down faster, Louis impressed that Harry was able to guide himself down easily with one hand, the other still protectively on his lower back.

As they neared the bottom, Louis could have told Harry that he was okay the rest of the way since it was only a couple of steps, but the comforting touch made him feel secured, so he let it stay.

When his foot hit the base of the fence he was done, not bothering to step off fully before jumping onto the road, the sweet, sweet dirt road that would lead them back to civilization. He could kiss the ground if he wasn’t already on his feet.

“You did it!” Harry cried, pushing himself off the concrete wall.

“I did it!” Louis smiled back, stepping into Harry’s space when the man opened his arms in invitation.

Harry held him around the waist, “See? I told you we’d be okay.”

“Yeah,” Louis answered breathlessly. “Let’s follow the road back and get out of here. I need to shower so badly.”

Harry dropped his arms from Louis’ sides, smirking, “Well we can get through that together too. There’s no I in team after all.”

Louis scoffed, pinching his side as he removed himself from Harry’s broad chest. “Cheeky.” He was getting so used to Harry’s come ons that he hardly even blushed anymore. But there was no time to think about that, they didn’t know what else was out there, and he really didn’t want to stick around to find out.

Harry looked absolutely relieved and even happy, as was Louis. It should have been expected by now that it would all end within a few seconds.

One minute Harry’s beam was shining down at him, breathtaking as ever, and the next, it was like gravity had turned down the corners of his smile and pulled his eyes open even wider than before. His mouth parted like he was trying to speak, but something stole his voice.

It was beginning to scare him, so he moved to turn to see what had caused Harry to become a sickening shade of white.

“Wha-” He was cut off by the sound of a high pitched, bird-like shriek in his ear. Then came a force strong enough to knock him off his feet, Louis barely having enough time to register a pair of hands pushing at him before falling to the ground with a harsh hit to his side.

He gasped in pain, struggling to right himself. Then came another piercing scream, this time not from whatever animal had been behind him.

As he regained his vision, it was to even more horror and dismay than before.

Because standing over Harry and pinning him to the ground with it’s front legs was what could be the deadliest animal on the island. And it was out of its containment.

Louis was only a few feet away, understanding now that if Harry hadn’t pushed him out of the way, the velociraptor would have undoubtedly attacked him right there. Instead he moved Louis out of the way to save his life, which is why Harry was cowering under the ferocious animal and not him. He had to do something quick, he was not going to let Harry die on him now.

But he had nothing. No weapon, no way of fighting it off. The raptor stood at least six feet tall, taller than him. There was no way to overpower it without getting hurt in some way.

It’s a known fact that raptors travel in packs. So he should have seen it coming when a second raptor pounced out from the trees, investigating the area she was in. When it looked right at his flight instincts were telling him to run, because if he thought he could try and save Harry now, this raptor was going to keep him from doing that just with one look.

It was like she knew what he was thinking too, rounding on him to keep him subdued. He knew she was just guarding her prey while her pack mate took out hers. Then once Harry was dead they would both move onto their next victim, him. They were some of the most intelligent and precise animal to have ever existed, and he was sad that the last thought before he died would be that the magnificent creatures he spent years studying would be the ones to kill him.

The raptor must have thought she had Harry restrained beneath her, baring her teeth in his face with a growl. But Harry went without warning, hand raised in the air, the rough edges of a rock positioned between his fingers. Louis could only watch numbly as he slammed the rock into the gap of the raptor’s mouth, hand sliding in easily.

Louis expected the raptor to freak out and back off to spit it out, but she only grew angrier. It almost felt like he was watching in slow motion when she bit down on the hand in her mouth, still trapped with the large rock that was on its way to the back of her throat.

And then Harry let out a blood-curdling scream when she whipped her head to the side, the snap of the bone deafening to his ears. The rampaging beat of Louis’ heart dropped in his ribcage. Whether it was his wrist, hand, or a part higher up on his arm, it was broken now.

Like a movie playing out before his eyes, the raptor bit down harder, then sunk her front claws deep into the skin on Harry’s chest. He cried out again, powerless against the ravenous carnivore that weighed him down.

Louis thought that was the end of it, that she would enforce her attack and finish him off right there. He knew it wouldn’t be fast or painless, in fact the exact opposite. She’d rip his stomach open and let his organs spill out. She’d wait until enough blood drained out of him that he finally succumbed to death, and finally she would rip him apart in every way she could.

Louis couldn’t bear to watch the inevitable, stealing his eyes away from Harry’s bloodied body to stare down the other raptor, the one that would take his life in a few seconds. He was nearly ready to greet death, but a grunt from beside him pulled his attention away.

Harry was still fighting, blood oozing from the rips in his chest and his right hand. He gathered up all the strength he could manage from his position and his injuries, adrenaline building to high enough levels for him to kick his legs out to slam against the raptors underside.

She was caught off guard, the force of Harry’s legs knocking her off of him. Her claws retracted and his arm parted with her jaw, leaving behind the sickening crunch of bones as she fell to the ground.

Harry fell back in exhaust, eyes barely open. Louis took that as his signal to finally move his paralyzed joints, not bothering to wonder about the second raptor at that point. They were going to die anyway.

Louis launched himself at Harry’s convulsing body, shielding him like he had done in the jeep right before the rex attacked. There was no turning back now, and he accepted that. The first raptor was likely righting herself after the fall, the second one not far behind.

Louis wasn’t looking. He refused to look death in the face, instead choosing to watch the face of someone beautiful before his last moments. Maybe if he didn’t see the raptors he wouldn’t have to believe it was the way he died. He could make up his own ending, instead. One that didn’t involve being lost in an immoral park after watching a good man be injured beyond repair.  

Harry wasn’t conscious anymore, blood flowing freely around the mutilated skin where his hand had once been. Tears swelled up and he wasn’t strong enough to hold them back this time, realizing Harry’s hand was no longer there, leaving the torn pink flesh in its wake.

 _Any second now,_ Louis thought. _It’ll be okay Harry, I promise._

The salty tears fell onto Harry’s laxed face as he waited anxiously for the first claw to rip through his back.

But it never came.

The raptors were communicating to each other to attack them for sure, but then came sounds of what seemed like tires crunching along the gravel, and a sudden sound was fired through the air.

It was so loud that Louis had to cover his ears, not completely sure of what was going on, yet again. Then another rang out, his body further hunching over Harry’s to protective him from whatever was happening.

Wet drops splashed on his neck and back, Louis figured it was rain. Until the stench wafted through his nose, and he understood that what had covered him was blood. But it wasn’t his own.

And when he dared to look behind him, the crumpled figure of one of the raptors dropped to the dirt. It had a single gunshot wound to the side of it’s head, and the other raptor was nowhere to be seen.

Louis followed the direction the shot rang out from, chest heaving heavily against Harry’s at the sight of a black jeep. With Zayn Malik hanging out the passenger’s side window, rifle in hand.

 


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the latest fucking update ever but :))) two chaps :))) it's finished except for the epilogue :))) happy dying friends :)))

**_Control Room_ **

**_Earlier that day_ **

“It’s not working?” Perrie’s lowered voice tore Nick’s eyes away and up from the endless lines of codes on the screen.

He sighed, leaning back in his chair and blinked at the brightness of the room.

“No it’s not working, nothing’s been working for hours now,” he replied in a snappish tone. It wasn’t Perrie’s fault, and he shouldn’t have been taking it out on her. But, he’d been at it for what felt like days now and well, he was getting aggravated. The only person he could really fault here was Jeff, who, after extensive hours of digging through the dark crevices of the web, turned out to be the son of the leader of RASS, and foe of Edward Twist, Irving Azoff. It made it clear now, what his motives were. What wasn’t clear was how he was able to get in, undetected to their system. But Jeff was a hacker, it was expected that he would have the knowledge to hide himself like that. That’s why Jeff Francesco was hired by them, not Jeff Azoff. He didn’t even have a wife named Glenne.

It was a brilliant plan, and almost flawlessly executed. The one flaw being that Jeff probably didn’t know that they recorded all phone calls, otherwise he would have gone the rest of his life scotch free without a suspect to his name. If it weren’t for the fact that their careers and lives were on the line, they might have been impressed.

Now, at least Nick could find relief in the fact that once this whole fiasco was over Jeff would handcuffed and sent to jail for however long the authorities would deem worthy.Whenever that would be, since they still didn’t have use of the phones yet, even with all the debugging they’d been doing, Twist, and now this Dr. Payne pushing them to work harder than they’d ever done before. With his eyes stinging from staring at the computer screen for so long, Nick hoped the man would get a life sentence for putting so many lives in peril.

“Should I tell Twist we’ll have to restart?” Perrie asked, her voice not going over a whisper. Nick shifted his eyes towards where Malik and Dr. Payne were sitting anyway to make sure they hadn’t heard. He pulled a face of resignation at Perrie before nodding.

She turned and Nick watched her walk briskly to Twist, her shoulders sagging as she delivered the bad news. Twist seemed to deflate at her words, dropping his head into his hands. His next words echoed through the control room.

“Looks like we’re going to have to restart the entire system,” he drawled, eyes not meeting a single person in the room. “It’s our last resort to restore some sort of control back over my park. So Nick, if you’d please….”       

Nick stood, pointedly ignoring the heavy eyes that followed him, and the weight that suddenly pressed against his abdomen. He really, really, didn’t want to do this. When he turned it off, there would be no way to ensure that the system would power back up at all. It would be a race against time to try and start everything back up. If they even took a few minutes too long they’d be stuck in an even worse predicament than they already were.

With the pressure of the one around him, his trembling fingers unlocked the panel in the back of the room. He pocketed his keys. One last breath escaped his mouth as his hand grasped the little lever, and pushed it down.

The instantaneous effect plunged the entire room into darkness. Now, everything was off, the computers, lights, AC, even the fences. And hopefully, this meant the computers would be rebooted, erasing all of what Jeff had done.

He checked his watch in the black of the room, “Five.. four.. three.. two..” When he reached one, he tugged on the switch again, this time pushing it back into it’s original position. They waited in a tense silence for the power to start whirring, signaling that it was coming back to life. A minute passed and still no sound. Nick squeezed his eyes shut and willed away the urge to smash his head against the wall. There was only one explanation why the power wouldn’t be turning back on at this point. They could sit there and wait five minutes, ten minutes, an hour and nothing would happen.

But in their current situation they didn’t exactly have any time to waste.

"Fuck," Nick swore into the darkness. "I don't think the power's going to start up. I'm going to have to head over to the panel area and start it up manually."

"Wait," he heard a voice to his left, "the panel area is practically on the other side of the island, that's about twenty minutes away."

Nick knew this, of course, so he simply nodded before he realized no one could actually see him. "Well, I should get a move on then."

He's met with silence for a few seconds, and then it's broken by a loud voice next to him. He hadn't heard anyone move.

"I'll come with you. We shouldn't be letting anyone outside by themselves with those dinosaurs roaming around. Plus, I’m going to find Louis and Harry."

Nick guessed it was Dr. Payne speaking and was barely surprised when he heard Malik's voice interject. 

"Well I’m not letting either of you step one foot out of this complex without some sort of protection,” Zayn hissed, marching over to a cabinet on the other side of the room. First he grabbed a flashlight from where it was stashed in a metal box under one of the tables, he flicked it on before turning back to the cabinet. He unlocked it, pulling the doors open to reveal a small array of combat weapons. He tugged a rifle out, holding it in Liam’s direction.

“Here, you probably don’t know how to use it but I can show you. And I’ll take one as well.” He pulled open the compartment on top, sliding a few gold bullets in. He switched guns with Liam and preceded to do the same thing as the first. He locked the hatch and positioned it over his shoulder. “Don’t point that thing anywhere unless I tell you too, got it?”

Liam nodded, clutching the rifle to his chest. Nick was very aware that he would be the only one without some sort of protection.

"You guys will need another set of hands, I think it'll be best if I come too," Niall walked up to them from where he had been sitting at one of the desks. He looked nervous and Nick guessed the man's nerves would only worsen if he was left in the room with only Twist and Perrie as company. Horan looked faint enough, fresh air would probably do him some good.

Zayn handed him a first aid bag to sling over his shoulder.

“It’s going to take some time to get the system running again, once I’m there,” Nick added. “Once I’m in the shed I’ll be okay. It’s only the rex we have to worry about, right?”

Zayn affirmed this by nodding his head. “You’ll be good if we drop you off there and we’ll go find Tomlinson and Harry?”

“Of course, of course. Fifteen, twenty minutes, and I can have Jurassic Park up and running again. I”ll just wait for your signal.”

They nod at him, Zayn pulling out two two-way radios.

 “Here,” he handed it to Nick. “We’ll be on channel three. When we get there, you get in, get us back on, and stay your ass there until we get back, clear?”

Nick gave a salute, tearing his gaze away from Malik and company when he felt his boss’ overbearing presence sneak up behind them.

“I have complete faith in you men, you’re the best this place has to offer,” he looked to Zayn. “Just please, bring my grandson back in one piece. He’s a tough one but…”

The raptor expert lightly brushed a hand on his shoulder, a genuine gesture unheard of coming from Zayn. “We’ll bring him back, and Dr. Tomlinson too. I promise, sir, you have my word.”

Twist took it, giving a brief smile.

Zayn turned his attention toward him. “Are you ready, Grimshaw?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Let’s move.” Zayn addressed the rest of the worried workers in the room. “We’ll be back.”

* * *

 

The bold orange hues of the simple sky had just begun to rise over the horizon when they reached the edge of the complex. By the look of it, it was early morning, and glancing down at his watch, it read 7:48.

Since the power shed was at the other end of the island, it had taken almost twenty minutes to reach it through the thick surroundings of the forest that blind the island together. It was uncharacteristically quiet, considering the mouths on the people Zayn was currently driving around. He did most of the talking, giving advice here and there, but making sure to assure the other men that they'd be able to fix the problem. Zayn told Nick firstly that after he got the power back on, he must immediately use the landline in the shed to call mainlands to send the rescue choppers and the strike team. It seemed so stupid now, that they assumed they'd be fine just this once without the team ready to step in on something like this happened. The park had never encountered a problem like this, and they were too naive to believe it actually could.

"Ok Grimshaw, get this place up and running again." Zayn said as Nick exited the vehicle. "I'll tell you when we've got Styles and the doctor. _Assalamu Alaikum_."

Nick huffed out a long breath before shutting the car door. Zayn paused a moment, waiting for the taller mean to unlock the shed door and step in before revving the car back to life.

They just needed to check one thing first, before heading out into the park, and that was the raptor cages. He hoped that since their paddock was powered by a separate generator they weren’t affected by the system restore, but it didn’t seem likely. Which was a thought he really didn’t want to think about, because that would bring so much unsuspecting trouble for everyone still in the park.

Though if they were out, it wouldn’t be long before Grimshaw got them back on. Zayn prayed that IF their fences had gone out, they wouldn’t have known just yet. But he never wanted to underestimate the intelligence of such complex creatures.

The ride was quiet, allowing his mind to relax for just a moment as a soothing hispanic tune drifted through the speakers, until Liam finally spoke.

“Back there, what did you say to Nick before we left? You sometimes say things that I don’t think are english, I notice,” his voice wavered, and he flushed with embarrassment. “I mean, like, I don’t mean to offend you or anything! I was just curious because um, I don’t think I’ve ever heard that before… and um, fuck I’m sorry I probably sound so ignorant right now.”

Zayn took his eyes off the road for one second to look at Liam’s blushing apology, breaking out into laughter as he faced the wheel again. He even heard Niall in the back seat laughing with him, much to Liam’s confusion. But hey, it was kinda cute.

“What’s so funny? Did I miss the joke?”

“ _Nahin, jaan_ , no.” Zayn clamped his mouth shut, accidentally letting out the term of endearment towards Liam again. He hadn’t even meant  to call him ‘jaan’, it just slipped out, twice now. His brain needed to stop. He waited for the blush creeping up his neck to subside before speaking.

“You didn’t offend me, Liam. I speak Urdu, because I’m Pakistani.” Liam nodded his head once, and Zayn continued, “But I’m also muslim, and what I told Nick was a common saying in arabic we use, ‘ _Assalamu Alaikum’,_ which basically means ‘peace be unto you.’ There’s a second part to it though, that the other person is supposed to say back, but Nick doesn’t know arabic so I didn’t expect him to.”

Liam leaned forward, curiosity brewing in his whiskey brown eyes. “That’s really interesting, Zayn.” They were oblivious to Niall in the back, caught in their own little bubble. “What does ‘jaan’ mean then? I remember you called me that last night, and I got really confused because I knew you knew my name, and then you went around calling me ‘Jan’? But then you did it again just now, so I was just wondering what that meant?”

“Oh! Um, uh….” Zayn stuttered, holding his eyes directly in front of him. He knew if he looked at Liam now, he’d melt into a puddle of embarrassment. There was no way he would actually tell Liam what he meant by it, blurting out the first thing that came to his mind, “Friend! Um yeah, it just means friend.”

His breath held until Liam laughed. “Oh that’s nice! I consider you my _jaan_ as well.”

Zayn’s eyes widened and he nearly choked on his saliva as Liam smiled, sitting back without any idea of what he just said. Honestly, Zayn was in too deep. If Liam ever figured out what that word meant….

“I”m your _jaan_ too, right Zayn?” Niall barked from the behind the driver’s seat. That killed the mood, but also sent the flush on Zayn’s cheeks back to where it came from.

“No Niall, I don’t like you.” He said sarcastically, even though he was serious in not wanting to refer to Niall _that_ way.

Liam giggled again, a sound Zayn was beginning to want to inject into his veins, as Niall just retaliated by kicking the back of his seat. Childish even at his worst.

“So wait, what is the second part then?” Liam blurted out of the blue.

“Huh?”

“You said before, about that saying you told Nick, that there was a second part that the person is supposed to reply with.” Liam looked determined. “What is it?”

Zayn dared a peek at the man next to him, curious as to why on earth he’d be so interested in the phrase. One look at his puppy dog face, and he caved. Shit. “Okay, so generally, you’re supposed to reply with ‘ _Wa’alaikum salaam_ ’, which means, ‘and unto you, peace’.”

“ _Wa’alaikum salaam._ ” Liam repeated to himself, giving a content hum.

Zayn was truly fucked. In both the sense because there they were, stranded on an island with ravenous dinosaurs for the time being, and there he was, slowly developing this _crush_ on a man he barely knew, when he should be thinking of other ways for everyone to get out of Jurassic Park safely.

“Where are we going Zayn?” Niall spoke, diminishing his thoughts. “Paddock nine is in the middle of the island, and we’re going the opposite direction.”

“I know,” he said, feeling the gas pedal sink just a little bit lower beneath his foot. “I just need to make sure the raptor fences are still intact, and they’re still safe inside.”

“What if they’re not?” Liam asked.

Zayn looked past Liam, down to the gun resting on the floor between his legs. “S’why we brought the guns.”

When Zayn pulled up the the raptor paddock just a few minutes later, he felt every ounce of optimism for the safety of the island deflate into the pit of his stomach. Somewhere beside him he heard a gasp, and a “shit”. He felt his heartbeat stutter in his jaw before a frustration founded on fear rose in his throat. He slammed his hands against the steering wheel in anguish, fighting back the tears of defeat. The entire cage was empty.

“ _Mayyaada_!” He screamed, startling the two men in the jeep. “Motherfucker!”

“Fuck, Zayn, what do we do now?!” Liam asked frantically.

He ignored Liam’s question, “Hand me the two-way and both of you stay in here. I’ll be right back.”

“Wha-” Liam tried to ask, but Zayn rendered him speechless with a dead set look in his eyes. He had no time to deal with whatever he was about to say. Their lives were at risk at that very second. Liam just complied, handing him the radio with his mouth agape.

Zayn grabbed the rifle with his other hand, swinging the strap over his shoulder. He didn’t bother looking back at Liam or Niall before sliding through the door of his car.

Realistically, it wasn’t a smart move, to get out of the car and leave the other two behind. But he wasn’t going to leave from their sight, and he wasn’t a very smart person, in situations like this, at least.

He stifly, and silently as possible walked towards the entrance to the paddock, thumb pressing down on the red button to speak on the radio.

“Nick, come in.”

There was a beat, before, _“Yeah Malik, what’s up?”_

“The raptor fences are out, and they all escaped.”

_“Shit.”_

“Just be careful and stay put. How’s it coming along?”

_“Nearly halfway done, just give me a few more minutes. Find Tomlinson and Styles yet?”_

“Not yet.”

_“Get moving then, if the raptors are out, they’ve got no chance.”_

“I know. _Khuda Hafiz._ Bye _._ ”

_“Stay safe.”_

The call ended quickly, Zayn having rounded the corner to check on the other side of the paddock. Even though he knew the animals were gone, his mouth still went dry at the sight of surprise. The fences weren’t ripped out, or chewed apart (though that was mostly due to the fact that the raptor fences were metal), but instead, the bottom that lined the ground was bent upwards, and there lay a hole in the dirt at least four feet deep, and five feet across.

“So that’s how they did it…” He whispered to himself, but then remembered where he was standing, shutting up all together. They could still be around for all he knew. But at the same time, they could have made it halfway across the island already.

Heart pounding in his ears, Zayn pulled the gun back to his chest and ran back to the car. Liam was anxiously bouncing his leg, while Niall just looked spaced out.

“They dug a hole,” Zayn laughed in both amazement and fear. “All of them, together. That’s how they got out. I don’t, I don’t even know what to think.”

“You don’t know what to think?” Liam nearly shouted incredulously. “How about the fact that Louis, Harry, and whomever else are still out there right now with no idea what’s going on! And it’s not enough that there’s a tyrannosaurus rex on the loose, no! No, now there’s half a dozen velociraptors out there as well!”

Zayn was such a fucking idiot. Of course there was still the task at hand, and Liam counted on him to bring Tomlinson back. And Twist counted on him to bring back his grandson. He made promises to both of them.

“I know, I know! I’m so sorry Liam…” He trailed off. “I just never thought this would happen, like ever. We’ll get them back. I can’t promise that they’ll be okay, but I swear to you, we will bring them back.”

Zayn hadn’t noticed before how angry Liam had gotten, fist clenched by his sides, chest heaving harder and harder with every breath. Oh how it hurt Zayn inside to see Liam look like that. Without a second thought he grabbed one of his fists, uncurling it to hold within his own.

One look from Liam at the comfort he was given, and he broke immediately. Tears sprang from the corners of his eyes, trailing down his cheeks as he clutched onto Zayn’s hand for dear life.

“Oh god, Zayn,” his voice cracked while saying his name, breaking Zayn’s heart even more. “What if he’s not okay? God, we don’t even know if they’re still alive. What if he’s not alive?”

Zayn tried to calm him down, looking back at Niall who was in the same boat as him shrugging his shoulders, sad and unknowing of how to proceed.

“We’re going to find them Liam,” he reassured, Liam’s firm grip beginning to cut off the circulation in his hand. Not that he minded. “I’m going to go now. Just, hold onto me if you need to, I can steer one-handed.”

Liam shook his head and sat back against the seat, choosing to hold Zayn’s hand still. He loosened his grip, which was good for Zayn, as it had begun to ache.

“I’m sure they’re fine.” Niall chirped from the backseat as they drove along the gravel road.

“Thanks.”

When they made it to the middle of the park, Zayn maneuvered the jeep through the different paddocks until they passed the ninth one. He hit the brakes.

He set Liam’s hand aside, dangerously stepping out of the vehicle with his gun yet again to inspect the surroundings. He eyed the area, looking for any sign of life. If there wasn’t anything on the outside, it would mean that they were either still inside the paddock, or have possibly made it out and were now trying to find their way back to the main building. Surely if they were still with Keith they would be alright in trying to find their way around.

His head snapped to the side when the distinct sound of a raptor scream broke through the brush up a head. He didn’t know how far ahead, but it sounded like it was on the other side of the paddock, and his fingers found the trigger anyway.

Then came the scream. It was faint, probably not audible to most people, but he was able to hear the pain and desperation that came with it.

He opened the door, “Liam are you okay to drive?”

Liam looked a little unsure, but answered, “Yeah sure. Why?”

“I need you to switch places with me,” he explained, gesturing for Liam to get into position. “I think I heard someone up ahead.” He decidedly left out the part about the person screaming and the raptor that was there too, not wanting to freak them out even more.

It kicked Liam into gear though, Zayn crossing in front of the jeep and climbing into the passenger’s seat at the same time Liam crawled over the console to fit himself in the driver’s side. “Go now, in that direction!” He yelled, rolling down his window.

“What are you doing?!”

“Zayn, what the hell?”

Niall and Liam gasped at the same time.

Zayn shushed them with the flick of his wrist, extending his body out the window until he was sitting down, waist up hanging onto the side of the car, legs and feet remaining on the seat. He brought the gun back up to his chest, one hand clutching the handle on inside handle of the roof, the other hand holding the rifle purposefully, finger circling the trigger.

When the scene came into view it was almost too much to take in. Dr. Tomlinson was on the ground being circled by one of the raptors, while Harry was lying pliant beneath another. In a split second she was knocked off him and hit the ground.

“Stop the car!” He screamed at Liam, who slammed down with a eerie squeak.

“Oh god no..”

When Zayn looked back at the scene, Dr. Tomlinson was now hovering Harry, acting like a human shield to protect him. The raptors got into attack position just as Zayn aimed the barrel of the gun at the first one’s head.

He fired.

* * *

 

 

**_Present Time_ **

 

“Louis! Louis!”

“Oh my god.”

“Fuck!”

“Louis!”

Louis vaguely registered the screaming voices and the one calling his name behind him. After the last few rounds were fired, there wasn’t a movement from the last raptor to finish the attack. That meant that it was still alive and had run off startled at the commotion, while the other one lay dead nearby.

He heard Liam’s anxious tone as it pierced his ears, but didn’t look up to see his friend running towards them. Instead, he was hunched over the stillness of Harry’s unconscious body, salty tears staining his face.

The blood wasn’t stopping. It kept rushing out around his hands, which were now gripping the thick flesh of the wound. He didn’t know much about medical care, but he knew that with something like this, pressure needed to be applied immediately to stop the bleeding. He also knew that Harry had already lost a lot of blood, and he was going to lose a lot more. Which wasn’t good. There’s only so much the body can handle before it just gives up altogether.

Louis felt time stop for a moment before it continued in slow motion. There was a rush of bodies that surrounded him in an instant, all shouting things at him his brain couldn’t bring itself to  understand.

“Get him back!” Someone, sounding like Zayn, ordered.

He felt the brush of fingertips across his shoulders before they dug in, pulling him up and away from Harry’s crumpled figure, whose eyes were now open, but barely. Louis hoped that was a good sign.

He wanted to break away and fight whoever was keeping him from helping Harry, but when the muscular arms of his best friend wrapped around his torso, his legs gave out, and he let himself be held by his friend. He wasn’t crying anymore, but wet tracks among the smudged dirt and sweat remained etched in his skin.

“God,” he heard Liam croak into his dirty mess of hair. There was another splash of something against the back of his neck, but he knew it was Liam’s tears, and not raptor blood. “You’re okay, thank god.”

Louis wanted to return the sentiment and hug onto his best friend as tightly as he could, but all he could do was stare down at the blood pooling around Harry. He felt helpless as Zayn and Niall of all people, stumbled around Harry, unsure of what to do. Well, Niall stood there watching with a pale face, as helpless as the rest of them. Zayn on the other hand, went to work as soon as possible, shedding the button up he was wearing, leaving him only in his dark t-shirt. He tightly wrapped it around Harry’s arm, blood soon soaking into the fabric. It would have to do for now.

“We need to get him to a clinic,” Niall suggested. “Harry mate, it’s Niall. Can you hear me? Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Harry didn’t respond. He laid there in an almost paralyzed state, staring into the sky above them. He didn’t even register that he heard anything at all, or that they were trying to get the bleeding to stop.

“The nearest clinic is in the visitor’s center. I don’t think we’d have enough time to get him back to the control room,” Zayn suggested, pressing two fingers against Harry’s neck to check his pulse. He looked back at Niall.

“Do you think the raptors would follow us back there?” The blond asked, wiping the sweat from his neck.

Zayn responded as unemotionally as possible, “They might. There’s five still out there. We might need a diversion.” He turned back to Harry. “Mate, try and keep your eyes open, yeah?  We’re gonna try and lift you up now okay? Liam give us a hand.”

Louis wanted to throw up again.

“Why isn’t he responding?” Louis spoke, voice shot due to screams he can’t remember omitting, watching as Zayn and Liam hoisted Harry’s arms over their shoulders and pulled him up.

Niall rushed back to the jeep, opening the backdoor and clearing the seat off for Harry.

“He’s going into hypovolemic shock,” Zayn supplied, him and Liam dragging his body back to the car. “It happens after a significant amount of blood loss. It’s probably the only thing keeping him alive right now. If we don’t get him medical care soon he’ll die from either the blood loss or the shock.”

Harry could die. Harry could die from either blood loss or shock, after he promised he would get him out of there unscathed. He had failed him, and would never forgive himself for it.

Bile rose from the pit of his stomach, but he swallowed the foul acid down while Zayn and Liam placed Harry on the backseat as carefully as possible.

When they got him arranged as best as they could, Zayn turned to him, blood covering his hands and shirt. “We have to go now, get in the car.”

He moved to do what he was told, but the sound of Niall’s worried voice glued his feet to the ground.

“Um guys-”

“Niall we don’t have time for this, get in the jeep.” Zayn interrupted.

“But Zayn, look up.”

The other three men gazed upwards. The sky was still cloudy from the storm, a light drizzle cascaded onto their exposed faces. Louis wouldn’t be able to tell the time by how the sun was obscured behind layers of grey clouds. None of that mattered anyway, seeing as a winged figure larger than any rain cloud in the sky soared among them.

“That’s a fucking-”

“Pterodactyl.” Niall choked out on an exhale, “it’s one of them that got out of the cage”

Louis clenched his eyes shut as he felt a headache begin to throb through his brain. A tyrannosaurus-rex, raptors, and now more than one pterodactyl were roaming around the park. Louis didn’t think he even wanted to voice the question that sat on the tip of his tongue. His mind was running with thoughts of Harry and getting him to safety, all he could see was the man’s face frozen in fear and splotches of red everywhere. He clenched his eyes tighter hoping that somehow if he shut them tight enough he would open them to reveal a time and place where none of this was actually happening.

“Is it me or is she flying towards us?”

“No, she can’t be….how would she even see us?”

Feeling faint, and afraid of blacking out Louis forced his eyes open. He did so just in time to watch the flying dinosaur soar directly over their heads, its underbelly barely grazing the tops of the trees. As it passed it obscured the minimal amount of light shining through the canopy, plunging them into a midnight darkness. His head panged at the splintering squawk emitted, so loud it shook the tallest of the tree branches making them dance.

Niall turned to watch it soar past them in the other direction. Louis was about to turn as well and get into the car so they could stop wasting anymore time and find Harry some medical help, when his heart swooped low.

“Louis, move!” He heard Liam’s voice shout into his neck as the man tackled him down. They landed roughly on their sides and Louis whipped his head back just as a wing flapped not twenty feet away from him.

He gasped at the whiplash in the back of his neck as he did a headcount, looking specifically for a certain curly haired one. He saw Harry leaning on Zayn’s chest, who looked like he’d crashed into a tree trunk trying to move away from the approaching dinosaur. He allowed a moment of relief to sedate him as his eyes scanned for a fifth person.

“No,” it was a scream that died in his throat. Unlike with the raptor encounter, his senses heightened his the racing of his heart and everything happened at rapid speed. Two reptilian claws outstretched before his eyes, the winds caused by the flapping of two forty foot long wings stung his face.

He saw it in Niall’s eyes when he made the decision, sparing a quick look between the four others on the ground and the looming bird above. He halted in his steps and stared up at the creature, chest heaving.

“I’ll find you later, get Harry to clinic!” He had to shout over the sound of branches breaking and wings flapping overhead.

“Niall, what the fuck are you doing?” Zayn shouted back, looking ready to leave Harry leaning on the tree so he could run over carry Niall himself to safety.

The blonde man simply shook his head, his jaw setting as lifted his face back towards the hovering pterodactyl.

He held up a hand, “Creating a diversion, so you can get to the clinic and make sure Harry lives!”

It was the last thing he said before he spun in the opposite direction and ran.

The winged creature surprisingly followed, besides the fact that Zayn was yelling after him.

“We’ve got to do something! Zayn, use the gun, or something!” Liam shouted out of breath.

He was still holding Harry. There wasn’t much he could do. “Liam, Niall is a big boy. He can handle himself alright. But we have to get Harry help or else he’ll bleed out. Now, let’s go.”

Louis could see that Liam was still shaken up by the whole ordeal, and he was too of course, but Harry was top priority.

Liam got on the other side of Harry and lifted.

 

By the time they arrived at the visitor’s center, Harry was completely lucid, just unresponsive. Now Louis wasn’t a medical doctor, so he knew little to nothing about going into shock, but it couldn’t have been a good sign. His pupils were also dilated and his breathing was heavy. It had woken Louis out of whatever traumatized state he’d been in before at least, and he fit himself in the back with Harry, careful not to move him around too much. Zayn told him to keep firm pressure on the wound, and he was doing his best to keep Harry from bleeding more. 

There was a chance that the raptors could have followed them back to the visitor’s center, and with the luck they’d been having, he wouldn’t doubt they’d show up sooner or later.

Liam and Zayn had explained to him on the way that one of the workers had hacked into the park’s security and had shut down most of the security grid as well as some of the fences. It all clicked into place, how the rex was able to escape into paddock nine, and how there was no power to fences where they were stranded.

Zayn also informed him that in order to debug the system, they had to shut down power to the whole park and restart everything themselves. And now Nick Grimshaw was at the power shed working to get everything back online.

It was how the raptors has seemingly escaped their paddock and found him and Harry.

Harry, who they were carrying in fully this time so as to not drag him along like before. Liam took his arms and Zayn held his feet, while Louis manned the doors for them. Zayn was shouting directions at him along the way, guiding through the building he’d only been in once.

He found himself in the far end of the building standing in front of a door with red letters that read, ‘ **Emergency Room** ’. Zayn shoved a set of keys in his hand, and he was able to get the door opened on the first try.

With both of their combined strengths, Zayn and Liam were able to lift Harry’s limp body onto one of the beds in the middle of the room.

“Tomlinson, keep applying pressure to the wound. Lift his arm above his head, it’ll slow down the blood flow.” Zayn ordered, stepping towards a series of grey cabinets. He tossed a few pads of gauze at him. Louis shot into action, gripping the mess of blood-stained fabric while Zayn rummaged through the medical supplies. “Talk to him, or something. Make sure he stays awake.”

He felt a large hand on his back, rubbing up and down. He glanced up to see Liam looking at Harry with more worry than he’s ever seen on his friend’s face.

Louis turned back to the man lying beneath him, doing exactly what Zayn told him, raising his forearm, squeezing it tighter and tighter with each passing second. “Hey, Harry. You’re going to be okay. I promise.”

Maybe he should stop with the promises, since he’d already broken the first one. He thought there was a little flicker in Harry’s eyes in his direction, but it could have been the light playing tricks on him.

Liam met Zayn while Louis continued to whisper reassurances and comfort to Harry in hopes of a response. “What are you going to do to him? Do you even know how to treat shock?”

Zayn sighed, tossing bags and whatever else off the shelves in his search. “I’ve treated shock in many people before when we were away from hospitals. I’m going to get an IV going on him to raise his blood pressure. Then we have to stop the bleeding. I’ll probably have to put a tourniquet on him.”

“God, okay,” Liam breathed shakily. “What do you need me to do?”

Zayn located a stash of IV solution bags, tossing one into Liam’s awaiting arms. “Just hold this up while I put the needle in his arm, then keep holding it up.”

They moved to Harry’s left side, Zayn taking the needle attached to the drip and sliding it into the vein of his arm. Harry didn’t even flinch.

He placed a piece of tape over the needle to keep it in his arm and made a dash back to the cabinets. Liam stepped out of the way, holding the IV bag at level with his shoulders. All the while Louis was still trying to get Harry to make some sort of gesture or notion that he understood what was going on.

“Tomlinson, has the bleeding stopped yet?”

He looked at the blood slowly soaking through the gauze. God, what would happen if the blood didn’t stop? He dreaded the feeling in his stomach telling him he already knew. “No, there’s still some coming out.”

“Fuck, okay um,” he stumbled around the room, tearing each and every cabinet out looking for something. He pulled out a ruler. “I can’t find the torniquete. This will work but I need to find something to wrap around….” he paused, voice drifting off like he was trying to remember something. His fingers found the red bandanna around his neck, and he wasted no time untying it.

“Hold this flashlight over him,” Zayn ordered, Harry’s arm falling back against the bed after he was nearly shoved out of the way. But he didn’t care as long as Zayn knew what he was doing. He took the flashlight, pointing it down where Zayn’s hands were working. He didn’t even notice the lights were off. “Where the fuck is Grimshaw with the power?” He peered at Liam, who only shrugged his shoulders in response.

Quickly and precisely, the raptor expert wrapped the bandanna about four inches above the wound, tying it as tight as possible to cut off the circulation. Louis kept the light steady sans the few times he nervously shook in fear.

Zayn positioned the ruler adjacent with his arm, knotting it in with the bandanna. He ended the knot efficiently and tied it off with as much strength as he could muster. The thin end of his cotton shirt came up and dabbed the perspiration away from his forehead.

They watched the way the blood flow got slower and slower, barely anything coming through the gauze pads. They shifted their attention back to Harry’s chest as it evened out into a steady pace, and finally traveled up to his lax face to see the forest of his irises disappear behind the darkness of his eyelids.

“You guys were lucky we found you when we did.” Zayn walked to the sink out of breath, the work of trying to stabilize Harry having taken an obvious toll on him. He scrubbed his hands under the weak water pressure. After cleansing his hands of the blood and drying them on a towel nearby, he picked up the radio from his pocket.

“Grimshaw, what’s taking so long?”

He expected him to come up immediately with an explanation of how he was almost done. But there was only silence.

“Grimshaw, are you there, can you hear me?”

“Grim c’mon.”

“Nick you son of a bitch answer me.”

The same breathless static from the silent two-way filled the emergency room. That could have meant one of two things: either something was wrong with radio, or….

“Maybe his radio is malfunctioning,” Liam supplied. “It could be anything. Don’t, just don’t assume the worst, please.”

Zayn pocketed the device, scrubbing a shaky hand over his face. He moved to the door, “I’m going back to the shed. Either Nick is being an unfunny idiot, or something’s happened. But I’m getting the power back on.”

Liam captured his arm as he made to exit, hazardously pushing the IV bag to Louis’ chest. He glanced at him and Harry, then back to Zayn. “I’ll go with you.”

“You need to stay here with your friend Liam, no-”

“No, Zayn!” He silenced him, determination evident in his voice as he spoke. “You are not going out there alone, without any backup. I won’t let you.”

“Liam I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You’re not asking me. I’m telling you.”

Louis was beginning to freak out. They weren’t really going to leave him alone with no clue of how to carry on with Harry, were they? Liam was out of his mind. “Um, I don’t know if either of you know this, but I’m not actually a real medical doctor! I have no idea what to do here, so you can’t possibly leave me alone with him!”

They both looked to him, Zayn shaking his head. “We’ll only be gone thirty minutes tops. You won’t have to do anything with him, he’s perfectly stabilized right now.”

Fine, okay. That would be okay. What could really happen in thirty minutes anyway?

“But just in case he wakes up in pain,” Zayn added, handing him a shot from one of the plastic tubs on the counter, “give him a shot of morphine to calm him down. Make sure you keep the IV flowing, and everything will be fine. There’s also a chance Niall might find his way back here, so keep a lookout for him too. We’ll be back soon.”

He nodded in acceptance, darting his eyes to his best friend. Zayn held the door open, but Louis prevented Liam from leaving by wrapping his arms around his back. “Be safe,” he whispered into his neck, reveling in the comfort of his arms snaking around his waist. It was the first hug he’d shared with Liam in a long time, and he wished it didn’t have to end so soon.

“You too, Tommo.” Liam pulled away first, patting Louis’ face solemnly as he turned to Zayn. “They’ll be safe in here right? If the raptors did follow us, they won’t be able to get in?”

“Of course. Unless they figure out how to open doors, which is doubtful.” He spun to face Louis, “Keep it locked just in case, yeah?”

Louis nodded, giving each of them a hopeful smile before they exited the room.

He locked the door.

 

* * *

 

The rifles were firmly held in place when Liam and Zayn entered the shed at the end of the complex. Zayn had taught Liam how to use the gun before they left because he had a bad feeling in his gut that they would be running into something again, and he had mastered it quite well.

The door to the shed wasn’t opened when they arrived, which was a good thing. It meant that nothing had gotten in. It didn’t mean Grimshaw didn’t get out, of course.

They were greeted by a curtain of darkness, something he already expected. He flipped the flashlight on.

In front of them was a metal staircase, which descended even deeper into the small underground building. They took it slowly, one step at a time.

Luckily Zayn was already familiar with the layout of the shed, too many times an issue with the raptor paddock having brought his attention there, so there wouldn’t be any stumbling around blindly in the dark until they found what they were looking for.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Zayn stopped and felt along the wall for the light switch he remembered being there. Seeing as it was pitch black Liam stumbled into his back, he steadied himself with one hand on Zayn's hip and the other on his arm.

"Sorry," the man whispered, taking a step back.

Zayn hummed his acknowledgement, brow furrowing when his hand found nothing but smooth wall in its search. The light switch must have been further down the wall.

“Grimshaw?” He asked into the void. No response.

He went onward with one hand dragging along the wall. Liam trailed behind him, the bottoms of his wet trainers squeaking on the floors.

"Liam, would you mind looking on the other wall for a light switch? I could have sworn it was right by the stairs."

"Yeah, course." Liam's presence disappeared from behind Zayn as he went to find the hidden light switch.

The sounds of their shoes on the linoleum filled up what seemed to be an empty room. Zayn repressed all thoughts of what could have happened that Nick wasn't in there with them. Luckily, he wouldn't have to wait too long to find out.

Liam's shout was followed by a loud thud of what Zayn guessed was the man hitting the ground. Liam groaned from where he laid on the floor, the ground was a harder surface to fall on than one expected.

"You ok, Liam?" Zayn asked with a hand still raised on the wall.

"Yeah, I just tripped on this..."

Liam didn't finish his sentence. Zayn found the light switch located a little higher than where his hand had been and flicked it on, submerging the room in white light.

Zayn reacted first. The gun nearly slipped from his grasp as he took in the body lying motionless on the floor. It was mangled and drowning in what he guessed was its own pool of red  blood. It was twisted and obviously tortured, the insides spilling out from what looked like the stomach. Or it could have been the back, it wasn’t even distinguishable as a human anymore. It had been desecrated by a raptor. By the length of the legs and the darkness of his now contorted quiff, here was only one person it could be.

In three strides Zayn was at Liam's side, pulling him up from the ground where he was sat staring wide-eyed at the corpse. He walked them backwards, with both hands around Liam's arms. The other man's chest was rising quickly and his hands were shaking from where one hung limp by his side and the other twisted in the bottom of Zayn’s shirt, as he let himself be led away.

"That's Nick, isn't it?" Liam's voice was raw with emotion. His face had gone pale and Zayn could see as water welled around the brown in his eyes. Zayn nodded and rubbed his hand up and down from Liam's shoulder to his wrist in what he hoped was a calming manner.

Liam sighed, gripping onto his shirt harder, tugging it away from his body. His fingertips trailed the rough skin of his stomach just barely, but enough for a fire to buzz beneath the surface. “Oh god…” Liam whispered, spinning away from the body as fast as his feet could take him, colliding into Zayn’s chest. “I’m sorry just,” his voice wavered as he dipped his forehead to rest on Zayn’s shoulder. “Just give me a minute please. I might be sick.”

Zayn wrapped his free hand around Liam’s neck pulling him even closer, giving himself a moment to numbly soak it all in while Liam held onto him, seeing the dead body of someone he’d worked with for months left out like that. Nick and him weren’t the greatest of coworkers, and hey maybe he had gotten on his nerves from time to time, but he never wanted any of this happen. To any of them.

It felt surreal, and he wished he could have a longer moment to himself alone to mourn and cry, but they didn’t have time for that. There was a very real possibility, he realized, that the raptor, or raptors, that killed Nick were still inside the shed with them.

“Don’t die.” Was all Liam said next.

“What?”

“Don’t die,” he repeated. Zayn held him with confusion. Liam was giving him either a suggestion or a command, and he didn’t know how to respond to either of them. “Promise me you won’t die, please. I couldn’t stand it if you ended up like…” he paused, like saying the name was poisonous. “I know we’ve only just met, but god, I don’t know what I’d do if you died. So please, don’t.”

Liam was asking the impossible. There was no guarantee any of them would come out alive, and if anyone was to, he would make sure it was Liam, not himself. He had a duty to this island and the animals in it, Liam didn’t. If it came down to saving the rest by giving his life, he would do it. Their safety came before his, but for Liam’s sake and assurance, he lied.

“I won’t, I promise.” What he really meant was, he’ll try his damndest to bring everyone out of the park with little casualty, including himself, but what must be done, must be done.

“Liam,” he spoke softly, maintaining a sound that he prayed the animals wouldn’t pick up on. “The door to the panel is right behind me. I need you to get there as quietly as possible, and start flipping the switches, okay? I’ll be right behind you with the rifle.”

There was the motion of his head brushing across the fabric of Zayn’s shirt as he took an awaited breath. “Okay.”

Liam detached himself from Zayn’s arms, sighing as he stepped across the floor cautiously, as if there would be another body strewn around for him to trip over.

Zayn stood with his back to him, guarding the front with his gun aimed accordingly. They moved farther and farther into the shed until he heard the tug of a metal handle and the gust of air that sent shivers down his spine as it opened.

He slammed the door shut and locked it, looking out through the small holes in the metal lining that acted as windows for the small room. There wasn’t anything out there, yet.

Once he felt they were safe, he turned his attention to the panel before them. There might be a dead person just a few feet from them and a carnivorous creature waiting somewhere inside, but they had a job to do.

There were so many buttons for various parts of the park, all flashing the dangerous red through their LED finish, signalling they had been shut off. All they needed to do was flip them back to green, and pull the lever for the main generator, and then they would be back in business.

He made haste, explaining exactly what Liam needed to do. There were at least fifty things that needed to be switched on, which thanks to the efforts by Nick were reduced greatly from what they would have been. He went through the rows on one side while Liam started on the other.

He flipped different switches for everything ranging from the visitor’s center, to the control room, and to some of the paddocks. His hand faltered over the raptor paddock, pressing it down anyway even though they were out and there would be no way to relocate them to their home.

Liam met him in the middle, signalling his finish with a brief nod. Now that they made sure all the systems would be operational, it was time to actually restart the generator so they actually could be.

The lever was enclosed behind a glass case on the wall, for security reasons. Zayn raised it up and slid his palm around the metal in the position in was tilting upwards. That was it, it was now or never.

As soon as he pulled the lever down the sounds of the machines shutting down filled the heavy air of the room. Liam’s breath was hot on his neck as he waited for the panel to cool down. He finally pushed the metal rod back to its original position.

The rest of the lights came on instantaneously. He breathed out a sigh of relief. Liam followed suit, backing away from the wall towards the desk phone they’d installed inside months ago.

“D’you reckon this works?” Liam brought the receiver to his ear, grinning maniacally when the dial tone came through. He held it out. “Call the goddamn helicopters Zayn.”

 

  

* * *

 

 

It had been twenty minutes, and Louis was still holding the IV bag tightly in his hand, Harry’s left hand fitted between the other, giving occasional squeezes here and there. He had not stirred once, even when the lights came back on a few minutes previous. He figured he wouldn’t, considering his body was fighting to survive. That took a lot out of a person.

“I’m so, so sorry Harry…” He whispered. He couldn’t stop blaming himself for what happened. There must have been something else he could have done. He shouldn’t have even brought them out in the open like that. God, it was so naive to think that there wasn’t something else out there. And now, because of his idiocy, Harry had lost a limb, and could possibly lose his life. It was all too overwhelming. The weight of Harry’s other hand anchored him, otherwise he would have been going mad in the all too sterile room with its lighting that made Louis’ eyes sting. The last few hours had past so quickly the memory of waking up in the cave next to a sleep-warm Harry seemed centuries away.

He continued to hold onto Harry’s hand, startling a bit when a few seconds later he gripped back.

Louis thought he just imagined it for a moment, ready to settle his heart rate back down, but then he felt the pressure again, and took in Harry’s face, gasping when his eyes popped open.

It took all he had not to sob in relief. “Oh Harry thank go-”

A pained moan ripped from Harry’s throat, shutting Louis up from the rest of what he was going to say. It caused his heart to sink even deeper into his stomach. Shit, he almost forgot that he wouldn’t be all happy go lucky when or if he ever woke up.

He clenched Louis’ hand even harder than before as the pain finally hit him. By Louis’ guess the shock was wearing off, which meant there was little to no adrenaline running through his body to keep him from feeling any pain.

Louis jumped when Harry cried out again.

“Harry please!” Louis begged. Fuck, where did he put the morphine? “I know it hurts, but I need you to be as quiet as possible, okay? We can’t draw any attention.”

The glint of a needle caught his eye in his peripheral vision, and he set the IV bag down for a brief moment because he couldn’t possibly use his other hand with Harry seemingly about to rip it off.

Harry’s noises had subsided for the most part by the time he got a hold of the needle, but there were tear tracks that led into his hair, so Louis knew he was just holding it all in. “I’m going to give you a shot or morphine to help with the pain, okay?” Harry clenched his eyes shut and nodded eagerly.

Louis did his best with the no medical training he’d received, pinching the stick into the meat of his bicep to administer the drug.

The effect was almost instantaneous, calming Harry down enough as he drifted off again. At least he wasn’t in much pain. Louis placed the shot in a disposable trash can and picked the IV bag from where he left it.

“Yuf sholmnd apolggizsmm.” Came nearly inaudibly from the bed. It was so low and mumbled that if he had been moving around he would have missed it.

Louis whipped around like his life depended on it. “Harry are you awake? What did you say? Do you remember what happened?”

Harry hissed, keeping his eyes closed. “You shouldn’t apologize.”

“What?”

“Before. You said you were sorry.” He explained groggy, voice thick and raspy like it had been that morning after he’d woken up. “Y’shouldn’t be. I did this to myself.”

“God Harry, what were you thinking? You could have died.” He didn’t tell him that there was still a chance he might.

Harry laughed, but scrunched his face in pain, immediately regretting the decision. He opened his eyes, meeting Louis’. “Call it an eye for an eye.”

It was Louis who laughed next, both out of disbelief and amazement at the boy beneath him. “God, Harry,” he choked out, bending over so their faces were a few inches apart. “You’re so stupid. So fucking stupid.” They’re failed insults that don’t reach past the smile growing on his lips or the crinkles by his eyes. He knew Harry was weak and needed to rest, but he couldn’t help but meet his dry lips and seal his happiness with a kiss. Harry’s lips barely moved to acknowledge Louis’ from the low energy, but the sentiment was still there.

He didn’t want to push Harry’s limits, especially in his state, but Harry needed to know the gravity of the situation.. “Do you know what happened? After you....”

“After I shoved my hand in it’s mouth? Yeah, I have a feeling. I can tell by the way half my arm is numb and there’s a contraption on it that something bad happened.” His head rolled to the side, peering down at the makeshift tourniquet and Zayn’s shirt wrapped around the wound. “Is it..” his voice got weaker with each new sentence. It must have taken so much energy to keep himself awake. “Is it gone then? Did it take my hand?”

Louis’ fingers gripped onto Harry’s just a little bit tighter, mouth going dry. “Harry I,” how was he just supposed to break the news to him like that? In the end, he just could get the words to form. “Harry I’m so, so sorry.”

He didn’t look upset, was the thing. It could have been the drugs, or just his way of coping, but he made no motion to show he even heard Louis.

“Okay,” he said after a moment, voice lowering as he stared at the white ceiling tiles above him.

Louis wanted to say anything to make Harry feel better at all, but the shrill beat of a telephone ring turned his attention away from the injured man.

He stared at the wall where it sat for a moment, wondering who on earth would be calling them in the clinic. But then he realized it was most likely Zayn or Liam from the power shed. He picked up after the third ring.

“Hello?”

" _Tomlinson? Did the power come back on?”_ It was Zayn.

“Yeah, about ten minutes ago, thank god.”

_“Good. Anything from Niall yet?”_

“No, nothing yet. I’m sure he’s fine.”

_“Dammit.”_

“Is Liam okay?”

" _Yeah he’s fine, just a bit shaken up.”_

Worry spewed into Louis’ bloodstream. “Shaken up? Over what, what’s happened?”

Zayn paused a bit before answering. _“We found Nick.”_

Found him? Wasn’t that a good thing? There wouldn’t be any reason to get shaken up over that unless-

“Shit. Is he-”

" _He didn’t make it.”_

His heart sank even more impossibly lower in his stomach than before. “I’m sorry Zayn.”

 _“Yeah.”_ He cleared his throat. _“I called the mainland. They’re sending two helicopters. They should be here within the hour.”_

“Okay, good.”

_“Stay exactly where you are. We still don’t know where the raptors are. Be there in fifteen.”_

The phone hung up before he could even get a reply out. But that was okay, because a rescue was on the way. They would all be okay in an hour. He turned to Harry, who was now staring silently at the other side of the room..

“Helicopters are on their way. Should be here in an hour or so.”

Harry didn’t respond.

“Hey, did you hear me? Zayn called the mainland. We’re getting out of here.”

Harry was still unresponsive, but his eyes widened. Louis knew that look. It was the same one he showed before the raptors attacked.

Soon there was a hand directly level with his eyes, Harry’s finger pointing at something on the other side of the room.

He could only imagine what it was.

With his knees threatening to give out and a heartbeat pounding in his ears, he followed Harry’s direction.

He followed it right to a clear window on the other side of the room. Right to where a velociraptor was peaking in, calculating their every movement.

                                                                       

* * *

 

Zayn didn’t wait for a reply from the doctor before clicking the phone back in place.

Good, everything would be going great. He called the mainlands, they were sending help. He called down to the control room to inform his boss on the change in plans. Twist had of course asked if they had found Harry and if he was okay. It didn’t feel right telling his boss that his grandson had lost his hand and still had a chance of not surviving, so all he did was explain that there had been an accident and Harry had gotten injured extensively.

He also regretfully broke the news of Nick’s death to him, which coupled with the story of Harry getting injured badly, he took pretty hard.

Liam hovered over him with intent, and as soon as he’d dropped the phone, he was tugged into a warm embrace with arms boxing him in on both sides. It felt different than any of the other comforting embraces they’d shared, Liam molding himself over Zayn this time.

The hug was so close and intimate, seemingly stretching beyond the confines of time. The way through the thin layers they wore he could feel the steady rhythm of Liam’s heart beating, the inhales as his chest expanded. He could even brush the perspiration that clung to his neck.

“Thank you.” Liam breathed.

Zayn’s natural instinct kicked in, and before long he was hugging back, tracing his fingers across firm shoulders over the damp shirt Liam wore. He knew it was just out of relief, joy for the fact that soon they would be out of harm's way, but he couldn’t help but cling to him a little bit tighter. He hadn’t been held like that in such a long time, and the concept was almost foreign to him.

But then he remembered where they were, and the ever looming threat that grew around them every second they were away from the others.

Zayn made to break the contact with Liam, but the hiss of something he knew all too well had Liam pulling away first.

They weren’t alone.

The intimidating snout was the first thing that came into view. Then the extended claws of her hands, her broad and muscular body, and finally, her three-foot long tail.

He latched onto Liam’s bicep, fingers digging into the flesh almost painfully, willing them both to be as still as possible, and maybe she wouldn’t see them.

The raptors back had been facing them for the most part, as she walked along to where Nick’s body lay.

She inspected the remains of his body, and Zayn found himself having to turn away in case she was going back for seconds. He’d seen them attack the cows they’d fed them, but he couldn’t entertain the thought of watching one mutilate a human even further.

He was thankful that the door was locked, but if she found them out there would be other ways of getting in. He needed to come up with something quick and unnoticeable.

Then the phone rang.

The raptor looked up.

He had to think quicker.

“Zayn is there another way out?” Liam’s voice ran at eighty miles per hour. “Raptors don’t stray too far away from their packs. There’s probably more nearby.”

The raptor sprinted at the room, shrieking her pitch pitched predatory call when she hurdled onto the metal lining.

The phone kept ringing.

The carnivore dug her claws into the gaps in the metal, tugging with all her force to try and pry it away to get to them. Luckily, it was too strong for her. But Zayn wasn’t getting comfortable just yet.

The raptor continued in her attempts to break into the room, hissing and sounding the most unpleasant noises he’d ever heard, all the while Zayn scanned the small room for another way out. The shimmer of light barely slipping through the room caught his attention.

He turned to face the intrusion, dancing on the inside when registering that the light was coming from the sun, which was peaking through a window nestled just above the panel, a few feet higher.

It looked like heaven.

Liam followed his line of sight, the beginnings of a smile forming at the corners of his mouth.

“Let’s go.”

Zayn went first, feet climbing onto the metal contraption of the power panel. He lifted himself on top of the box, Liam following hot on his heels. He helped him the rest of the way up with a tug of his hand until they were both kneeling on top, facing the window. Since they were underground, the window was high enough that it peered out just above the ground outside.

It wasn’t big, probably three by two feet, but it would have to do.

Without a second thought Zayn smashed his boot into the glass with a powerful kick, effectively shattering it. He cleared the shards out the way, not wanting to come out with glass embedded into his skin. Though he figured that would be better that a raptor jaw.

He motioned to Liam to move first, who took the offer generously. He only was able to get one leg out of the whole when the raptor cawed ferociously. It wasn’t in the predatory way, Zayn recognized. No, she was calling for help. If they didn’t escape fast enough, they were fucked.

Liam stopped for a beat, “Zayn, is she-”

“Yeah. We’re about to meet her friends.” He interrupted. They had no time. “Keep moving!”

Liam did as he was told, angling his body through the wall. He rolled out onto the grass, moving to give Zayn a hand.

“There’s no time, get to the car!” He tossed the keys with him.

Liam shuffled out of view. Zayn tossed the gun out first, looking back at the raptor that hissed at him. Her cat-like eyes peered into his soul, like she knew what he was thinking. He shook the feeling off and crawled through the window.

After finding the rifle he made a break for it.

He’d almost made it to the jeep, eyes shining at Liam waiting in the passenger's seat, when an unexpected growl reverberated from the trees. Her help had arrived.

It didn’t take long for the raptor that made the sound to appear.

She used the force of her hind legs to propel herself onto the hood of the car, rocking it up and down before it steadied.

Liam, who was staring wide-eyed with a hand clutched over his heart, was perfectly invisible to the dinosaur. It was Zayn she had her sights on.

He took a defensive stance, holding the gun up, aimed at her head. But when he he went to pull the trigger, it locked in it’s place. Shit.

What a great moment for the gun to jam.

He was running out of time; she could attack at any moment.

He kept his eyes open, waiting for the inevitable to happen. If he was going to die he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of seeing him break before her.

Just as he thought she was ready to leap, the headlights of the car switched on, causing him to throw up his hands to shield his eyes. The engine revved to life, Liam now sitting in the front seat. He didn’t even see him slide over.

Suddenly the tires were spinning, propelling the jeep backwards.

The raptor was knocked off harshly, collapsing into the dirt. She got back on her feet and shook herself off, turning her attention to the man behind the wheel. Her teeth bared and claws sprung out, ready to attack the contraption.

Zayn watched in bewilderment as Liam put the car in drive, determination etched in the lines of his face. Was he going to…

His thoughts were broken by the acceleration of the vehicle.

The car drove forward, disregarding the raptor scream that followed. The jeep slammed her right into the front of the building, the crushed bones popping with each agonizing shriek.

Blood splattered against the front of the hood, sending a wave of nausea crashing over Zayn. For some reason, it was more difficult to watch a raptor crushed to death instead of a mutilated human body. He didn’t know why, but it was possibly due to working with the creatures for such a long time. There was some form of attachment there.

The raptor gave one final breath, body giving out from the pressure it faced.

Zayn took that as his cue and stumbled to the passenger’s side after Liam scrambled to swing the door open for him. As soon as he was safely inside, he rested his head back, watching the way both him and Liam’s heaving chests were in sync with their rapid breathing. His pulse was racing.

“I can’t believe you just did that.”

Liam’s knuckles had gone white from gripping the wheel so stiffly. “I told you, you weren’t going to die.”

His breath caught in his throat at the way Liam was looking at him. Almost like, like there was something _else_ embedded in his words. Heat rose to his neck as Liam leaned closer to him; he was sure he was sporting an intense shade of pink.

He didn’t know if Liam was going in for a hug or a kiss or what, but it would have been so easy to just let him, to just feel the press of his lips with his. Liam’s eyes slid down to his mouth before crawling back up. He wanted so desperately to give into the thoughts he’d had about Liam all day, just to end the tension between them, but his brain had other things in mind.

Instead his brain decided to make the decision for him, completely opposite from what was running through his mind. He effectively cut off any sort of moment he and Liam had been having when he blurted, “We have to get back.”

Liam, who wasn’t too close to him, pulled the rest of the way back, awkwardly tapping the wheel. “Oh, okay. Um, yeah.”

Zayn cleared his throat, strapping himself in. “I’ll just, um guide you there.”

“Yeah yeah, ‘course.”

The air was tense and awkward, something Zayn definitely wasn’t going for, but they were on their way to bring Harry and Louis back to the control room, so he really didn’t have time to think about it.

 

* * *

 

Louis felt his whole body go stiff. The velociraptor was staring directly at them from where she stood behind the glass. Her beady eyes were unwavering and she seemed to be staring him down, daring him to make a move.

“Lou-” Harry whispered, voice shot with panic, from where he sat, IV still attached. “What do we do?”

Louis’ ears strained to hear over the thunderous thumping of his heart, the dinosaur didn’t seem to share his problem seeing as her eyes flickered over to Harry’s lying form. That sobered Louis up a little, the thought of another velociraptor harming Harry. He blinked quickly trying to subdue the fear running through his bloodstream, trying to get a hold of the thoughts that plagued his racing mind.

There wasn’t a chance that the single locked door would protect them for too long, and with the way the animal had been watching them Louis had no doubt she had already constructed a plan of attack and was waiting for the perfect time to execute it.

“Do you think you can hold yourself up if I get you out of here?” Louis rambled fast as the raptor sniffed along the edges of the window, worrying that at any moment she could break through the glass.

Harry didn’t wait a beat before answering weakly, “I can try.”

As the raptors breath fogged up the window, Louis thrusted the IV bag into Harry’s remaining hand. He positioned himself underneath Harry’s right arm, carefully slinging the tourniquet over his shoulder so it wouldn’t release the pressure.

Harry was nearly dead weight over him, with the extra height and weight he had on Louis, but he was trying his best with the amount of blood loss and pain he had went through.

Just as Louis got his body off the table and his boots hit the floor, the raptor made its first attack jump into the window. She crashed into it with a brash creaking of the glass, cracks forming from where her body had hit on impact. Luckily for them, the first time didn’t break the glass all the way. He watched her nostrils flare and could practically hear the harsh breaths being omitted, it fogged up the cracked glass almost fully obscuring so that they could only see a silhouette of the carnivore. 

Louis pulled Harry to the door, all but dragging him across the sleek tiles when the raptor righted herself. He moved as fast as he possible could, hand around Harry’s waist, trying to get them out of its path.

She sprang towards the window again, her final jump effectively breaking the glass as they landed inside the clinic, shards flying all around her feet. She began maneuvering her body around towards them, sparkles of glass shined along her scaly spine and illuminated the white walls in spots like a disco ball. A disco ball about ready to make them her next meal. 

Louis had gotten them halfway out the door when she set her sights on them, realizing that if there was anyway he was getting either one of them out alive, he would have to move quicker.

Her jaw opened and a piercing scream flooded from the back of her throat. She bent her legs down into attack position, bolting towards them just as Louis got them outside.

With no time to think, he dropped Harry down on his less affected side recklessly to close the door to the clinic with an echoing slam. The raptor plummeted headfirst into the iron door, sending Louis crashing to the ground with the sheer force of it all. He landed harshly on the ground bruising his bum quite harshly, and righted himself quickly, turning to Harry, who was starting to lose consciousness once more.

“C’mon Harry! Stay with me now!” He fit himself under his body again, Harry’s legs somehow working even though the rest of his body was limp in his hold. It made it easier on Louis as he traipsed them through the unfamiliar halls of the visitor’s center, trying to find a way out.

They’d only been to the other side of the building, where Zayn led them to on their tour, so he had no idea which corner to turn or where they were heading. He hoped they were closer to an exit and not just wandering deeper into the building where they could be cornered at any time.

He stopped once he reached a room labeled, ‘Grand Ballroom’, his mind juggling whether it was a good idea or not. Then the sounds of a raptor scream echoed throughout the building, and his mind was made up.

With Harry hanging off of him and his IV bag now dragging along the floor, Louis shoved them into the room filled with rows upon rows of tables covered in expensive covers and table runners. There was even a picturesque chandelier hanging from the tall ceiling, but he didn’t have time to stop and admire its glistening crystals with the raptor hot on their heels; velociraptors were highly known for their their sharper senses, notorious for their heightened scent.

He ran them through a few rows until he reached a table not quite in the back of the room but not quite in the middle, lifting the tablecloth up and ushering Harry underneath. The tables were so large that they’d both be able to fit under without being seen. They could just hide until Zayn and Liam came back, and then they’d be safe.

Louis took one last look around him, noticing doors that led into what was probably a kitchen the size of Mt. Everest. He disregarded it and instead turned his attention to Harry in the darkness, covered by the silk fortress of white that draped over them.

Harry was heaving, eyes barely managing to stay open. The last effects of the drugs were wearing off due to the stress and the toll of the blood loss was seriously affecting him. He didn’t have much time left.

The sound of a door opening came to his senses and hope ignited in his chest, but when the too familiar screech resounded through the room, it only served to crush his seed of hope and worsen his fear.

So Zayn had been wrong. They had learned how to open doors.

He felt Harry tense up next to him, his breath loud and wheezing into his ear where his head lay on his shoulder. Louis placed his hand over his mouth to muffle the noise, making sure not to cover his nose as well. They didn’t need anything else to draw the raptor’s attention to them.

She sounded angry, at least by what Louis could tell. He heard her lurking around silently, and was beginning to think she gave up and came to the realization that there was nobody in the room.

But then the first table hit the ground.

Then the second.

And a third.

She had figured them out, and was now going through all the tables in the room to get to the one they were cowering under. Harry flinched with each one that fell.

Louis was at least partially thankful that they were at the end of the room, while she was in the front.

But he needed to do something quick, because Zayn and Liam still hadn’t arrived yet, and he wasn’t planning on waiting for them any longer. He couldn’t expect the raptor to show mercy and wait around with him until the other two arrived and then start its attack, it wasn’t in their nature.

The image of the kitchen behind the metallic doors came to his mind. It was far from foolproof, with little to none reasoning behind it, but it would be a way to get her as far away from Harry for the time being. Plus, she was all the way in the back, he could make it there before she caught up to him. He hoped.

He glanced at Harry, making up his mind. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

If Harry looked alarmed, he didn’t show it. “Where… where are you…”

“Sh,” Louis whispered, cutting him off with a quick and fleeting peck to his bruised lips. He averted any thoughts that it could have been the last one he’d ever share with Harry.

Releasing all the oxygen built up in his lungs, he pulled the cover back and exposed himself to the dinosaur. Her eyes met his in an instant as she climbed onto the table she was about to flip over. His feet started running before his brain had time to catch up.

He was fast, but she was too. He pushed himself through the doors and into the futuristic kitchen, the raptor right behind him. Now that he got the raptor into the room, he needed to subdue her somehow, or else he would be dead meat before his next breath.

In the seconds before she stormed in, Louis’ eyes flickered over a room that could only serve as a large oven, used to bake large quantities of rising foods to suit the number of guests they expected. The idea popped into his head and without another spare of mind he leaped into action, barely escaping the claws of the raptor as she bound into the kitchen.

He pulled open the door to the furnace, darting in so she could follow him. She was staggering behind instantly, ready to finally attack.

Louis hid behind a tall cart full of loaves that were not baked yet, waiting for her to come closer.

When she spotted him and got into the defense position Louis placed his hands on both sides of the cart, using every ounce of force he had left to topple it over, adrenaline drowning out the blood in his veins. It came crashing down on the carnivore collapsing onto her back, trapping her for a moment underneath.

It was just enough time for Louis to jump over the fallen objects and sprint out the door. He felt as if time had stood still and he was the only thing moving at lightening speed. He heaved the heavy metal door shut, locking it in place with the four bolts. Just to be sure she wouldn’t get out like she did before, his hand found the temperature knobs next to the door.

It would be so easy just to spin the knob to the highest temperature, to make sure she would never be able to get out or inflict any pain on anyone else.

It felt wrong in his gut, since these creatures were only acting out due to the environment and situation they were forced into, only going off what biology had set out for them. But, he couldn’t take the chance that she would get out and kill other people.

He dared a glance inside the room, watching the way the raptor observed his every movement. She wasn’t angry, and she wasn’t sad. She wasn’t anything but staring wide-eyed to the man that held the key to her fate in the palm of his hand.

In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Instead of catching his breath, he ran back into the ballroom to get Harry, not wanting to look back at the imprisoned animal for reasons other than she was living her life the way she was created to.

He fell to his knees as soon as he placed the table he left Harry under, hoping he hadn’t passed out from the blood loss yet. A pair of tired green eyes stared back when he lifted the linen, putting him at ease for the moment. But they still needed to get out of there in case any other raptors were nearby, which as pack hunters, they most likely were.

Getting Harry back into position over him, he heard him mumble, “Don’t you ever do that again.” Louis tried to laugh, but felt the stinging pain from his side hinder his attempts.

He tugged Harry through the visitor’s center, wandering for a few minutes before finally finding the front doors. All the while, Harry was becoming heavier and heavier a he was losing consciousness. Zayn and Liam needed to hurry up with the jeep, and fast, or neither of them would last much longer.

They made it out of the building and down the stairs, even though Louis knew there was the threat of any other raptors finding them in the open like they were.

As soon as his feet hit the solid earth, Harry’s head became dead weight as he fell unconscious, causing Louis to falter to hold him up. In the end, it was too much for him to handle and he let Harry’s body down gently, going with him.

In that moment, he became blind to all of the world except Harry. He checked for his pulse,

“Harry you bastard, don’t do this to me.” He pressed his fingers to every inch of his neck, exhaling in relief when he found the beat under him. It was weak and barely there, but he was still alive for the moment being.

His IV bag wasn’t in anymore, lost sometime during the commotion. His other arm was completely purple up to the elbow, having lost all the circulation to keep him from losing any more blood. He’d be lucky to even keep the rest of his arm after this. If there was an after this.

The sounds of gravel crunching beneath tires brought his attention away from the hardly conscious boy he was clinging onto for dear life. Headlights shined blindingly in his eyes as the car approached, and the moment the doors swung open he couldn’t hold back the release of salty tears that clouded his vision. He let them smear through the dirt on his cheeks like a flood with no end in sight, nose starting to clog with mucus. He must have looked like an utter mess, but he couldn't bring himself to care at that moment. Because, Liam and Zayn were stepping out of the car, and they were going to get him and Harry out of there. They were going to make sure Harry survived.

“Get him in the back!” Zayn ordered, pulling Harry from him. Liam joined and once again grabbed his lower region. They maneuvered him into the back, leaving one door open for Louis to climb in after.

Liam didn’t let him, tugging him into another fierce and passionate hug that threatened to crush his ribs. Right, he was reminded of the burning sensation on the side of chest due to the broken rib there. But the instant relief he felt while in the contact with his best friend let him bare it. They were going to be alright. They were going to be alright, thank god.

They were all in the car in under five minutes. They laid Harry across the length of the backseat, Louis squeezing himself so he sat with Harry’s head rested on his thighs. He ran a shaking hand through the man’s knotted hair, sticky with sweat and blood. Dirt was splotched across both of his cheeks, blurs of brown covering the light splatter of freckles Louis knew to be constellated on the bridge of his nose. Like this with his eyes shut Louis could imagine they were back in the moments of bliss they shared this morning, swapping breaths so softly while the sun rose outside.

He grazed the back of his hand across Harry’s cheek, shuddering on an exhale.

“Harry,” he bit his bottom lip to stop its quivering, “you have to stay, you have to stay with me.”

A choked sob pricked the bubble Louis had built around himself and Harry. Looking up he saw Liam in the passenger’s seat, leaning back with an arm across his face clearly trying to hold back tears.

“Li,” Louis’ voice was raspy at full volume. His friend just shooking his head and waved a hand at him.

“I’m okay, I’m fine.”

Clearly he wasn’t. Without disturbing Harry much he leaned forward in his seat and gripped Liam’s arm, pulling it down.

“It’s okay, babe. C’mon let it out.” 

Liam’s shoulders shook with it, his own arms wrapped across his chest as if he subconsciously was preparing to protect himself. Louis tried to offer all the comfort he could from where he sat, he rubbed at his best friend’s shoulder. He felt so heavy inside, like a dam about to burst. He wouldn’t let himself breakdown until he was certain Harry’s wound would be fixed up, until he was certain the boy would get to wake up the next day. Preferably somewhere far, far away from the park.

Zayn hiccupped from where he’s sat in the driver’s seat. The pair turned in his direction in time to watch a single tear roll down the line of his jaw and off at his chin.

“I’m sorry, just you’re crying and now you’ve got me crying,” he gestured at Liam and then hastily wiped at his eyes with one hand still on the wheel. “It’s not every day you have to escape a dinosaur infested island, is it?”

Liam took a lungful of air and reached for the raptor expert’s hand, intertwining their fingers. Louis didn’t deem a comment necessary at the moment, he’d grill Liam on it later. Instead, he settled back and continued to untangle the bunched up strands of Harry’s curls. The man’s eyes fluttered as Louis’ fingers rubbed gently into his scalp. The blood loss had made him so sluggish he’d passed out for a bit, as Zayn had informed after the initial scare that Harry was dying right there in his arms, but the shot of morphine he’d given him, which was an extremely high dose, was starting to take effect as the jeep zoomed toward the control room. Harry seemed to be half conscious by what Louis could observe.

“Why are we all crying?”

It pulled a wet chuckle from Louis. He felt his face pull up into a smile despite the void that he housed in his chest that was draining him every second that passed.

Liam, now more calm after his outlet of emotion, turned in his seat to inspect Harry.

“How are you doing, Styles?” Liam asked in place of answering Harry’s drug induced question.

“Like I’m floating. Are we floating, Louis?” His green eyes widened and bored into’s Louis’ own. He looked beyond spaced out, face muscles relaxed and his speech even slower than usually. The pain temporizer was definitely working, then.

“No, love. Soon we’ll be up in the air though, don’t worry your pretty little head. We’ll get out of here I promise.” It came out more raw than he’d intended. His own words sat comfortably in his throat and his sore muscles melted into the leather seat at them.

“I think you’re pretty too, Louis.” Harry whispered up at him, “the prettiest.”

It was seconds later when a flying mass was colliding with the side of the jeep farthest away from Louis. It shocked them into letting out screams as the car zigzaged due to Zayn jumping about two feet out of his seat. Harry on the other hand was looking out the window serenely a soft ‘whoa’ sliding past his parted lips.

Zayn slammed on the brakes harshly and then it was silent within the jeep.

“What the fuck,” Louis was the first to speak, his hand clutched at Harry’s shoulders, ready to pull him closer in case whatever hit them was dangerous.

The men watched as Zayn leaned towards his door to look through the rearview mirror. When he spoke next Louis almost wanted to punch him for being so insensitive.

“It’s Niall!”

“Zayn, that’s impossible don’t-”

“No I’m serious that’s Niall.”

The man rushed out of the car and ran to the body that laid slouching in the dirt. Liam was up and out the car following suite, leaving Louis with a drowsy Harry alone in the vehicle. It couldn’t have been their irish colleague. Louis had seen with his own eyes how he’d risked his life for the rest of them, there was no way he could have outran the preying pterodactyl.

The park seemed to be filled to the brim with endless hazards and miracles. Moments later Zayn and Liam were whipping the door for the back open, both their arms supported a blonde man. The only man that would survive a pterodactyl attack, the only man who ever did. They made quick work of getting him into the car, seating him under Harry’s outstretched legs and immediately handing him one of the water bottles Zayn had found in the cupholder.

“Niall you stupid idiot,” Zayn spoke. “You shouldn’t have done that. We thought you were bird shit for sure. How did you even make it out alive?”

Niall’s hands shook where he clenched the bottle, blood coating little places on his clothes as he rested his head against the back seat, eyes drooping. “Hid in the trees after one swooped down and nicked me,” he replied, chugging the water like it would run out if he didn’t. “They’re too big to land on the branches, and they couldn’t fly underneath the treetops. It was safe from the raptors too, so it seemed like a good idea. Gotta thank me mum for forcing me to go to cub scouts now.”

Niall was as pale as a sheet, the only color coming from the blotches of red that sat high on his cheeks. Louis had so many questions for the man, but most of them could probably wait until they were safe and away from any more outbursts of danger the park had to offer. Harry didn’t seem to have the same morals though.

“Of course you’d survive that attack from that bird,” Harry nudged the man with his knee. Niall sat there with wide eyes and nodded his head stiffly. “That chicken bird,” he added almost like an afterthought.

“I’m a Horan, that’s what we do.” He replied softly, obviously still shaken up. His face and arms were littered with a variety of cuts and bruises. Black and blue lined most of his arms, Louis could only imagine where else those bruises continued. Louis felt himself flood with a burst of relief. It must have been a good sign that none of them had died, he hoped and prayed that it would stay like that until the helicopters arrived.

“It’s good to have you back, Horan,” Louis’ voice trembled with emotion. He felt the odd urge to laugh. Everything was so surreal he couldn’t believe any of it was more than a weird dream. But, laughing at this time would be highly inappropriate, Niall had basically sacrificed himself for the safety of the other four and he’d survived. It was not a laughing matter.

“Knock knock,” Harry’s voice reminded them of his presence, his very high on painkillers presence.

Those two words seemed to break a dam. Louis and Niall shared a quick glance before the blonde was looking down at Harry with a wobbling lip as if he were about to burst into tears, instead his face pulled a weird look before it fell and he was throwing his head back in a cackle. Louis felt his own laughter bubbling up through his chest and out through his mouth.

“He’s so out of it, god.” The blonde said through his giggles.

In the front, Liam was looking at them weird, his lip twitching as Niall’s laughs increased in volume.

“We thought you were dead,” Louis couldn’t feel his face, he was laughing so hard. It took him a while to get through the sentence, having to restart every time his laughter took over. Once he got it all out it only served to make Niall laugh even harder.

His cackles were so infectious and Louis couldn’t seem to stop the snort that escaped. The sound had the other three laughing as well. Harry was letting out soft chuckles, his abled hand reached out to touch Louis’ blinding smile. Louis pretended to bite his fingers, causing Harry to yelp and softly slap his cheek. They locked eyes brightly, the green in Harry’s eyes seemed clearer like there was no longer any pain seeping through his veins. Louis knew it wasn’t actually the case, but he hoped their brief moment of laughter had distracted him from the excruciating pain that was sure to start running over the edges of the drug soon. 

“Zayn,” Niall said it like he was about to state a really good joke, “start driving.”

Louis wheezed at that. He felt out of control, he was most likely going into some sort of psychological shock. He couldn’t even mind it though, he felt so much lighter letting out laughter instead of sobs. His hand clutched tightly to Harry’s wrist to keep his hand where it was practically cradling his face.

The car started up and they were soon speeding off back en route to the control room. Every second that passed they were closer to safety and to the medical attention Harry desperately needed. His brain screamed at him to worry and to feel the drainage of the day, but in that moment he couldn’t feel anything other than a warm, single flame of hope that somehow they would all be alright.     


	8. Chapter 7

By the time they entered the control room, all remnants of the hilarious delusion they were riding high in before had been washed away as soon as Harry had fallen unconscious again. There wasn’t anymore joy or smiles gracing their group, it was replaced by a tense silence as they all filed into the room. 

A sharp gasp greeted them. Looking up, Louis saw Twist with a hand covering his mouth and terror lining his eyes.

“Harry?” The old man moved faster than Louis thought was possible, he shoved passed Liam to grab onto his shoulder.

“What happened to him?” He demanded, his voice wavering on the last word.

Louis knew it wasn’t his place, but suddenly anger rose inside him as he fixed Twist with a hard stare. He wanted to berate him, scold him and hang the fact that nothing would have happened to Harry if it wasn’t for the mere existence of this park over his head. The man was missing an entire hand, for god’s sake. A bitter outburst wouldn’t do them any good at the moment, though.

Zayn spoke up next to him before Louis could say something that wouldn’t help their current situation. “A raptor attacked him and Louis.”

They set Harry down on a desk emptied by the other worker they’d met the other day. Louis immediately went to stand next to Harry in case he woke up. Twist moved up next to him, reaching a hand out toward his injured grandchild. Louis felt his blood boil at the gesture. He was never good at keeping his mouth shut.

“No, you don’t get to touch him,” he said lowly. Twist’s hand froze millimeters from Harry’s afflicted arm. The man turned to face Louis, a confused and bewildered look slapped on his face.

“What did you just say to me?”

Louis’ hands clenched into fists, he felt on the verge of shaking with how much resentment he felt towards him. He seethed and pointed his finger, just missing Twist’s chest by an inch.

“You don’t get to touch him, because it’s your own fault he’s missing his fucking hand.”

“Louis,” Liam tried to interject. Louis shrugged off the hand his friend placed on his shoulder, trying and failing to pull him away from the confrontation. There was honestly no stopping him with the state he was in. Absolutely livid.

“I’ve been against the idea of this park ever since it was announced all over the internet a year ago. Who the fuck brings dinosaurs back from the dead, into an era where there’s no longer a place for them?” The words roll off his tongue venomously.

“The answer is someone so greedy they can’t bring themselves to give a fuck about the danger it could bring.” He watched the brows of the man before him scrunch in a mixture of confusion and guilt, hoping that maybe, just maybe sense would finally have been knocked into him. “So no, you don’t get to touch him.”

Twist moved to his grandson, but Louis, still thinking irrationally, blocked him by stepping in front of the boy. Twist looked offended, but kept a calm voice. “What gives you the right to tell me, his own blood, and _your_ boss, what to do? You have barely known each other for more than two days. Now step aside, Dr. Tomlinson.”

A hand crept around Louis’ elbow, daring to pull him away from the confrontation once more. “Louis, c’mon. He’s right.” Liam protested, suddenly placed at his side.

“No, Liam.” He ripped his hand away forcefully, inching closer to Twist, until their faces were inches apart. How dare Twist proclaim that Louis was just nothing in this situation.

“I don’t give a flying fuck who you are to him. While you lot were in here, cowering into your computer screens, we were lost out there, unknowing of what the hell was going on. We were nearly killed by goddamn dinosaurs, we watched someone die, and Harry… he saved my life just to end up like this.” Their noses were almost touching, and Louis could see the tiny beads of sweat clinging to his upper lip, before he looked back into his grey eyes. “You might be his blood, but guess what? I have his literal blood on _my_ hands. I’ve been the one keeping him alive this entire time. Zayn and Liam helped out once or twice, but you know who didn’t? You. We’ve kept him alive, and we’re going to continue to do that until the helicopters arrive. And during that time, I don’t want you to come near him.”

“How dare you disrespect me, in my place of work too. I’m the only one who offered you a job after your company lost funding.” He spoke so arrogantly, hardly noticing the bullshit that was coming out of his mouth.

“Good luck finding any work now, because you are fired Dr. Tomlinson. Effective immediately.” the man added like it meant something.

It might have been the words he’d used, the tone, even the look on the man’s face, but from one second to the next Louis’ fist went from being clenched by his side to flying into the side of Twist’s face.

“Fired from what? You’ve got nothing left,” he spit as Liam practically lifted him up with both arms wrapped around Louis’ own, successfully restricting him, and carried him away. His hand throbbed painfully but he wasn’t finished expressing himself quite yet. Twist had broken open a dam. “You’re done. There won’t be a park after this, like there shouldn’t have been in the first place. People are dead because of you, there’s no way you’ll come back from this.”

He spewed at the old man lying on the floor holding his jaw, the blond haired worker and Zayn moving to his sides to help him up.  

“Get this- this delinquent out of here!” Twist shouted as he tried to get up, shoving away the hands helping him.

“Mr. Twist, I really don’t think you want another death on your hands. There’s no way we’re letting anyone else out of this room.” Perrie said, she seemed about as annoyed with the old man as Louis was. Not to his extreme, of course, but she was getting there.

“Fine, it’s fine. I’m fine. But don’t you think for one second, Tomlinson, that my lawyers won’t hear about this.” He waved his finger in the air in what Louis assumed he thought was a menacing way. Louis, not wanting to cause the man any more embarrassment simply rolled his eyes and accepted the freeze pack Zayn handed him to put over his hand. His knuckles were already purpling, and swelling as each second passed.

Zayn moved back towards Twist and gave him an identical one, a pitying expression on his face. Louis could feel his rage cooling down as if the chill from the ice pack could have any effect on his emotions. It wasn’t completely subdued though.

“It is your fault, Twist. This would have neve-”

“Louis, shut the fuck up,” Zayn stopped Louis before he could continue, his mouth still half open.

“You’ve made your point. Now, both of you need to put aside your differences,” he gave them both a scolding look, turning to Twist. “Whether you like it or not Mr. Twist, you are part of the reason people are dead and your grandson is injured.” He faced Louis. “But he didn’t do it on purpose. And he does have a right to be with Harry right now, no matter how much you dislike it. So stop bitching for five fucking seconds. Our main focus is Harry right now, and you two fighting is not helping him stay alive.”

Louis clamped his jaw shut. Zayn was not only an expert on the most dangerous animals alive and incredibly good looking, but also apparently a very reasonable person when dealing with conflict. Louis resigned but still held his ground in not letting the park owner near Harry, he walked back over and made sure he was between the two.

“I need to clean up Harry’s wound again, and I would like some help. Louis?”

Louis nodded quickly and moved to assist Zayn with the task. He set down a few pieces of clean gauze and wipes infused with medicine that would promote healing. He instructed Louis to wipe the area surrounding the wound, while he tried to inspect it and see if it was safe to remove the soaked gauze in order to replace it. Louis grabbed the pack of wipes and pulled one out with his healthy hand, the material felt cold and tacky as he gripped it between his fingers.

Zayn nodded to himself, giving the go ahead to change the bandages. Louis watched along as his new friend carefully unwrapped the bloody mess, the stench of mangled flesh becoming more prevalent as each layer was unwound. When Zayn got to the actual wound, Louis had to shut his eyes for a brief moment to compose himself. There were a few gasps behind where they were leaning over Harry, and he dared to look back down at the injury.

If he thought it was bad before, then this was the holy grail of injuries. The skin was a sickly pink color, clumps dangling down over the wound. The muscles in his wrist were turning brown, and Louis felt almost sick when he saw the pieces of broken bones in the middle of the shredded mess. He most likely was developing an infection, whether it was from the raptor, the dirt, or improper medical care. Zayn confirmed his suspicions with a shake of his head in disappointment.

“Hand me the wipes,” he complied as Zayn ordered. “I don’t know how long he’s had the infection, or how fast it’s spreading. The tourniquet should stop it from spreading for a little while, but there’s really nothing else I can do for him here.” He rubbed the medicine over the flesh, before packing it with fresh gauze. Before long new wrappings were applied, and he left Louis sitting at Harry’s side to talk to Twist.

“The choppers are close,” he whispered, though Louis could still hear him. “But there’s no telling if he’ll make it or not. He lost a lot of blood. How he’s survived this far… well, it’s surprising. Let’s just hope he continues to surprise us.”

Louis tuned out of their conversation once Twist started talking. He ran a light hand over Harry’s bicep, wanting to supply any form of comfort he could to the man despite him being unconscious. He looked so serene, his face lax and relaxed. Good, Louis thought, he’s been through enough for one day, he deserved a few moments of peace before they’d have to step back out into the chaos.

His eyelashes began to flutter, just enough for his eyes to open into little slits. Harry was still hanging on, but just barely. His breathing was ragged as he came to, chest rising and falling slowly.

“Hey, hey you’re ok.” Louis murmured as Harry’s eyes widened slightly and began moving left and right, searching for something.

“I’m right here,” he began moving his hand up and down Harry’s arm again to get his attention. An uneasy chill ran down Louis’ spine, afraid the shock and adrenaline would wear off and Harry would be stuck feeling the pain where his right hand should be. It was settled by the way Harry’s shoulder seemed to relax after tensing when his eyes landed on Louis.

He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out, his face scrunching up in discomfort instead. Even the slightest action could trigger Harry into falling into a pit of raw pain.

“Shh you don’t have to speak, love. You need to save your energy.” Louis tried to calm him down. “We’re in the control room. Perrie’s here, your grandfather too, and everyone from the car. I’d reckon you’d like to see your grandad for a bit. He’s been worried.” 

Harry winced but tried to nod anyway, his nostrils flared with how shallow his breathing had gone. Louis pushed at a stray curl lying on Harry’s forehead and placed it behind his ear. He gave himself a moment to look at Harry, really take him in, before sighing and moving to the side gesturing for Twist to come forward.

The man took Louis’ place as he moved over, still at Harry’s side, and gave him an emotionless look. When he turned to face his grandson his face crumpled in distraught.

“Oh, my boy. This wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t send you all out. I’m so sorry Harry.”  He folded into himself and the five others watched on as Twist shook with wracking sobs. He tried to continue speaking but none of it was understable due to the way his voice had gone heavy and his words had all slurred together.

“It’s….okay…” Harry breathed each word out, tone lowering as he went on.

Twist looked appalled. “It’s not okay Harry, not at all. This happened to you because of me.”

Harry sucked in a deep breath. “It was for… a good… cause.” His eyes found Louis’, breaking the contact from his grandfather. Louis felt the wetness develope from under his lashes, willing himself not to break down again. He was so gone for this selfless, beautiful boy.

Twist seemed to pick up what Harry was hinting at, following his gaze to where it fell onto Louis. When the realization washed over him, his lips parted as if to say something to Louis, but firmly shut them as if he couldn’t find the right words.

He looked back to Harry. “You’re going to be just fine, Harry. I don’t know how, but I will make this up to you. All I care about is you right now. You being okay.”

Harry attempted to smile, but it failed when his eyes zoomed in on the red, bruising area of his grandfather’s jaw. “What happened?”

Twist rubbed his wrinkled fingers over the sore spot, quickly glancing at Louis before his eyes landed back on Harry. Well, that was it then. He’d tell Harry he punched him, and Harry would probably never want to see him again for hurting a member of his family.

“I, um,” Twist began, glancing down in thought, like he honestly forgot what had just happened and was piecing it together. “One of the guns backfired earlier, just an accident. Nothing to worry about.”

Louis just, blanked. Twist had actually lied to Harry about what happened. He could have just put Louis on blast, told the truth, no matter what the consequences were. He clearly hated him and wanted him gone, so why would he let it go? Louis calculated Twist, looking for some sort of answer.

Harry’s eyes filled with worry, he looked as if he wanted to say something more, but the state he was in wouldn’t allow him. He wouldn’t have been able to finish that thought anyway, seeing as a phone rang loudly throughout the room. Seven heads turned towards it at the noise. Zayn was the first to react and he crossed the room in less than five strides to pick up the landline.

“Hello?” They couldn’t hear the voice on the other side of the line, but Zayn continued with informing whoever it was that there were seven people currently in the park. He then said their location, and followed it up with a few variations of, “ok.”

It was five minutes later that he hung up and turned to face the quiet group.

“Right, so the helicopters are almost here. They’ve got two on the way, we need to decide who’s going on each one.” He addressed them calmly. Louis felt a flare of relief bloom in his chest, he was so ready to be up in the air and away from island.

“Obviously Harry will be on the first one,” he stated. The others expressed sounds of agreement.

“Louis, you should go with him. He needs you.” Liam said from where he stood behind him.

Louis considered it, he would be able to stay with Harry the whole way back to the mainland. He could make sure the paramedics that were sure to be on their way did their job, and in case something went wrong- he could be there. But. Louis felt a bit like the leader of their little group, he felt almost responsible for not only Harry’s safety but the others’ as well. He decided then that he would be the last person to set foot on the park, he wouldn’t leave until he knew everyone who had accompanied him was safe in the air.

He shook his head. “No, he needs his grandfather. He needs his family with him. I’ll take the last helicopter.”

“As will I,” Zayn spoke from beside the phone. “Niall and Harry have to be on the first one no matter what, as they need to get to a hospital as soon as possible.”

He addressed Perrie next. “You’re getting on the first one as well. You’re not staying here any longer than you have to.” She nodded, and he faced the rest. “Boss, you’re on the first one with Harry. Liam?” 

Liam stood as straight as ever, eyes never leaving Zayn’s. Louis already knew his answer. “I’m not leaving your side. Either of you.”

They all nodded at each other. Afterwards there was nothing to do but wait for the signal that the helicopters had arrived. Zayn and Liam dragged over a few chairs for them to settle on. Both of them helped set Niall up so one of his legs that had been badly injured, he suspected a broken bone, was being held up by its own chair. Louis dragged the closest seat so he was sitting right next to Harry to keep him company.

As the others fell into a soft spoken conversation Louis settled his own attention back towards Harry.

"You ok?" Louis asked him, raking his eyes across the man's form searching for any signs of discomfort. He got smallest of smiles in reply. Louis knew his state wouldn't last long, and mentally willed the helicopters to hurry up.

"Um, wait a minute. What happened to that lawyer who was on the tour with us yesterday?" Liam broke the quietness of the room.

Perrie gasped, a hand flying up to cover her mouth. "Oh my god."

Liam flinched, “What, what’s happened to him?”

"We sent him back to the hotel. But," her face was stricken with astonishment, "that was last night, and we completely forgot about him amidst all of this."

Another heavy feeling descended upon the room. There was no chance he’d be alive out there on his own, after a whole night. Louis and Harry had survived, but they had their numbers, whereas Ben was all alone.

"Do you think the surveillance cameras might have caught him somewhere? He could still be out there, for all we know." Zayn suggested.

Perrie stood and walked over to her computer, typing away at it for a minute. "He went back at around seven last night, so there should be something on one of the hotel lobby's cameras."

The hotel lobby showed up on the large screen in the middle of the room. There was a clear view of the front desk, and the elevators to the right of it. The time in the bottom corner read 7:15 pm and they all waited for the lawyer to show up on screen. It wasn't a second later that Ben was walking past the front desk, nodding at the receptionist, and heading into one of the elevators.

The cameras cut off just a few minutes after the receptionist leaves for the weekend, as Perrie explained that this was around the time the computer systems started to malfunction do to the hack.

“They were out nearly the whole night,” she went on to say. “There’s no way to know whether or not he left the resort during that time.” She clicked a few more buttons on the screen, seemingly fast-forwarding the blackness of the footage until she could find something.

The others crowded around the small mac waiting, while Louis sat at Harry’s side, hoping somehow that Ben was somehow okay. It was almost immoral, how none of them had given much thought of him before now. They were all so preoccupied with staying alive and debugging the park that they’d completely forgotten about a regular guest that was only here for a court case from a while back. He thought about the original reason for him being here, the dead worker killed by one of the raptors. It would have probably led to a hefty fine or even a shutdown of the park. But now, with even more blood on Twist’s hands, the damages brought to him, and the entire industry, would be astronomical.

“Aha!” Came from Perrie, who bounced in her chair as the broad stature of the lawyer swooped into view. The time read 8:13 am, a few minutes after Zayn had turned the power back on.

“There’s a good hour in between Nick restarting the system and us turning it back on,” Liam supplied. “He must have slept through the entire thing, then woke up to this.”

Lucky him, Louis thought.

Perrie switched to another camera, angled down the path heading past the resort.

"It looked like he had headed out of the hotel, he probably realized there was no one working." Perrie explained as she switched to the new point of view.

Ben had done exactly that it seemed. The lawyer walked out of the hotel with his phone to his ear. Louis already knew the island had no signal for cell phone use, only the park phones were connected to the islands singular cell tower. It was apparent when the lawyer figured this out, he shook his head and threw his phone into the dirt. He looked stressed and most likely scared, it's not everyday you wake up in a deserted hotel.

"Wait, what is that? In the corner," Zayn pointed towards the far right where the head of some sort of animal was creeping out from behind two leaves. It was angled in Ben's direction, scanning him for any signs of danger. On the other hand, Ben's back was turned away from it, oblivious to how his every move was being watched. 

"I think that's a dilophosaurus, it's got those ridges on its head." Liam replied moving closer and squinting at the screen. 

"Those are the one that-"

"Spit poison, yeah." Louis finished Zayn's thought. He knew the animal would only use its defense mechanism if provoked. Hopefully Ben was smart enough not to notice it.

The footage continued showing as Ben sighed dramatically and put his head in his hands. He was probably going over the million and one ways he could sue Twist for leaving him alone on the island. Abruptly the lawyer lifted his head and looked towards the foliage where the dino hid, Louis could only assume the dilophosaurus had made some sort of noise.

The surveillance cameras had no audio but the terror was clear on Ben's face, they didn't have to hear the man's scream to know that. Immediately he was standing up and back away from the dino, who was clearly interested in the man and began to slowly take a few steps forward.

The group gasped as they watched the scene unfold before them.

Ben seemed to still have his wits with him as he froze completely. This way he wouldn't do anything that could be taken defensively by the animal, Louis guessed. But once a creature like this was intrigued there was no way to know what would be their course of action. The dilophosaurus approached Ben snout first with its head tilted to one side as it considered the man. Ben cowered into himself, Louis hoped he would stay still and not even breathing too loudly in case it triggered something in the animal.

There was only so much Ben could take it seemed. Fear had gotten the best of him, his brain probably screaming at him to protect himself. Louis watched the man stand upright, his head up high and looking directly into the dinosaur's eye.

Oh god, Louis thought.

Ben made shooing movements with his hands, pointing in the other direction and commanding the dinosaur to leave.

"Turn the footage off, I can't watch this. I can't watch him die," Twist spoke as he faced away from the screen and began pacing to the other side of the room.

"Sir, we have to make sure whether he's alive or not," Perrie explained, but she paused it anyway. She looked uneasy herself. Similar expressions adorned the faces of the rest of the group, Louis' included.

Zayn noticing this spoke up, "I'll watch it myself, I'll find out if he's still alive."

The raptor expert turned them down when any of them volunteered to watch it with him. Eventually all six heads were turned in the other direction, in Harry's case his eyes were closed. They'd all seen enough gore for an entire lifetime.Before he turned away Louis caught Liam squeezing Zayn's hand before he too turned away from the screen.

Zayn cleared his throat and pressed play. He watched as the dinosaur threw its head back in a roar before the flaps on the side of its face extended. He knew exactly what would happen next. The way Ben had tripped over his feet trying to back away reflected in Zayn unwavering eyes. He saw the dilophosaurus' neck move before a black liquid was spurting from its mouth and drenching the lawyer in what looked like tar.

 They all waited with bated breath as Zayn unemotionally scanned the movements of the screen, before pausing the video. He never once looked solemn or mournful, lifting some of the hopes that were diminishing in the air. But one slam of the table sent the keyboard flying into the wall, shattering the illusion that they had crafted.

They hung their heads a moment in mourning, giving a silent prayer that would never be answered.

Zayn appeared even more angrier than before, as his ventilation increased its speed with every breath. Louis didn’t want to know what he was thinking.

He brushed past the group to the back of the room, muttering incoherent nothings to himself while he steadied his breathing. Freaking out would not help them now. Liam, acting almost like glue, was at his side in an instant, placing a comforting hand to his back.

“That’s the third person that we know of to-”

“Please, Dr. Tomlinson,” Twist interjected, monotonous as ever. “Just don’t. We’ll have time to grieve later. The first helicopter has arrived.”

The entirety of the room seemed to snap back to life at his words. They all faced the screen to see the first chopper hovering over the font of the island. Within minutes it would be landing on one of  the many hover pads, which, luckily for them, was located directly behind the control room. Zayn and Liam perked up from where they stood intimately in their own bubble, Niall cheered from where he sat sluggishly, and Harry even managed to give a weak, “yay..” with a tight smile.

God, this was it. Well, for half of them at least. It was the beginning of the end. Harry, Niall, Twist and Perrie would get on the helicopter without a hitch, and be at the hospital within no time to be treated. Harry would be okay. They would all be okay.

“Time to get this show on the road.” Zayn said, determination set in his eyes as all traces of an almost breakdown were swept under the rug.

He strode over to the side wall were a cabinet stood, opening the doors to pull out what looked like even more rifles than he and Liam had before. He pulled one out and slung it over his shoulder, and motioned for Liam to grab the one he came in with. Zayn grabbed what looked like dart injections, but Louis was to nervous to ask what was in them. It would most likely knock the animal out, but knowing where they were, it was a chance they were deadly.

“Fuck, we don’t have much ammunition left,” he gasped, handing the last few rounds they had over to Liam, who almost professionally loaded into the gun. “It’s all or nothing here, so let’s hope we don’t draw too much attention to ourselves.” He faced the group, gesturing to each person with his hands. “Liam, you and Mr. Twist will carry Harry out, while Perrie and Louis help Niall. I’ll cover you if something decides they want an early morning snack.”

The expert cleared his throat, motioning for everyone to get into place. Harry’s grandfather and Liam took him under the arms, tugging him to the ground, the loss of blood weakening him so badly to the effect that his feet weren’t able to properly stand on their own. His head rested upon his grandfather’s shoulder, the last amounts of energy draining from his body.

Louis and Perrie followed in their footsteps, plastering themselves to the sides of Niall’s petite body. He was stronger than Harry was, and was able to hold himself up for the most part, but still relied on them for support.

Louis looked back to Zayn briefly while the others were making their way to the exit. He saw the man lift something circular and compact from the cabinet and slip it into his pocket, like nobody was watching. Louis was about to ask him what it was, but Zayn ushered them to the door before he could get a word out.

Zayn cracked the door open to check the surroundings to see if it was safe, and waved his hand out when he felt the area was clear. They exited in their trios, sans Zayn, who followed behind with the gun snug in his hands.

They made their way past the long strips of grass and prehistoric plants Liam had shit his pants over the first day and stumbled onto the area that stood before the landing pad. The helicopter hovered above, blasting harsh winds into their faces as the pilot made their way down. The sound was nearly deafening, and Louis almost missed the cue Zayn gave him when the chopper doors slid open. 

Two emergency medical personnel jumped from the inside, unloading a black gurnie with them, along with air masks and other equipment Louis couldn’t place the name of.

Zayn shouted garbled nonsense to them over the whirring of the helicopter blades, but they seemed to comprehend what he was saying by nodding eagerly.

“We’ve only got a few minutes before the other chopper arrives!” One of the men yelled. The EMPs motioned for Louis and Perrie to bring Niall in before the gurnie, which presumably Harry would be transported in.

Air catapulted into his eyes with every passing second and his heart threatened to jump out through his throat, but he and Perrie managed to hand Niall over to the second EMP, who covered his mouth with an oxygen mask and began assessing his injuries.

Perrie gave Louis a look full of hope and promise before nodding. “Be safe,” she said, her pink lips curling into a grin as she ascended onto the vehicle.

He nodded and told her the same, moving out of the way when the first EMP moved up behind him with Harry, who was now strapped down with another IV drip in and an oxygen mask placed over his mouth and nose.

The EMP began lifting the stretcher onto the helicopter as Louis made his way back to where Liam and Zayn were standing with their backs turned towards the group with their guns held defensively. But before he could meet them, the feelings of a cold and clammy hand snaked around his, tugging him backwards.

He spun around to see Harry, in all of his exhausted glory, looking back at him with a set line of determination in his brow. He tugged on his hand again before ripping his mask off, Louis registering now that Harry wanted to say one last thing to him.

The EMP looked confused for a minute and fought Harry to put his mask back on. “We have to go right now. The other rescue vehicle will be here any minute and they need to land.”

Louis couldn’t care less at the moment where the second helicopter was. Harry was right there and he could very well die at any moment, and he wasn’t going to let someone take away their (maybe) last moment together.

“Give us a sec,” he brushed off the EMP’s attempt to coerce Harry into cooperating, who gave up with a sigh and moved behind them to usher Twist into the chopper.

Harry’s eyes were barely there and his hand was shaking violently, and the longer he went without the oxygen the more his breathing worsened. He felt many pairs of eyes on them in that moment, but he couldn't bring himself to care or feel embarrassed.

He watched patiently with tears brimming at the inner corners of his eyes as Harry breathed in enough energy for him to speak.

“Louis Tomlinson.” Breath. “You stay.” Breath. “Alive.” Breath. “For me.” Breath. “You understand?”

Louis wanted to laugh at how absurd Harry sounded. In reality, it should have been the other way around, but Harry was never really one to stick to a set script.

“Back at you, love.” He countered, corners of his mouth turning up to mirror Harry’s. He should have left then, but because there was still the prospect of either of them dying, he didn’t want to leave Harry with just that. With all eyes still focused on them and impatience waiting with the EMPs and the pilot, Louis leaned over and brought his and Harry’s lips together in a chaste peck. Harry was almost too worn out to reciprocate it, but Louis knew he was trying, which was all the same to him.

He left Harry with that last thought, placing the mask back over his mouth. Hopefully it wasn’t a goodbye.

Louis stepped away and glanced back at the helicopter, Twist’s face giving him a surprised look, one eyebrow raised in question, a sneer set on his wrinkled mouth. Louis could tell he didn’t approve, and simply resisted the urge to roll his eyes before looking away from the older man. He backed away until the doors slammed shut, fighting back tired tears when the chopper lifted off the ground, sucking the air up with it.

Liam moved next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders as they watched the only people they’ve come to know in their time on the island fly away and desert them for who knows how long. It was funny now, how the two who had the least bit to do with the island, who didn’t even work there, were the last ones to leave. He guessed the captain didn’t always go down with his ship.

They were only given a few minutes of silence until the second rescue helicopter started approaching from over the horizon. The volume of the vehicle was deafening, all Louis could hear was the moving air whooshing past his ears. His face felt numb with it and he was more than sure of the chaotic state his hair was probably in. 

They stepped off the platform to allow the chopper to land, Zayn and Liam still with their guards up as they weren’t in the clear yet.

As soon as the doors opened, Louis high-tailed it and ran for his life. There was no way he was staying on this island any longer. He sprang into the chopper, disregarding the EMP inside who was asking him if he had any injuries that needed to be tended to right away. He shook his head no, looking back  to Liam and Zayn, who were cautiously walking together, aware of their surroundings, unlike Louis was.

Inside the helicopter now, the noise from the engine was worse. The co-pilot turned in their seat and handed Louis a headset once the EMP had decided he was in fact healthy enough to be strapped into one of the seats. Louis took them gratefully and went about with the seatbelts, making sure they were tightly secured. A wave of nausea flooded through him at the prospect of being that high up in the air again. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. Not wanting to think about it any longer, Louis turned to check if Liam had gotten in the helicopter yet.

“Zayn, look out!” Liam screamed from where he barely got his stance in the vehicle, pulling his attention to the man still standing outside in the open territory. Louis’ eyes almost bulged out of his skull when they landed on the scene happening only about five feet away from the chopper. First it was one raptor, then it was two. They sprinted out from the brush towards the commotion, surprising Louis since he mistakenly assumed that they would be terrified of the noise and run in the opposite direction.

The third one peeked out from behind the trees. Fuck fuck fuck, Louis’ mind chanted. While the helicopters were sturdy, there was still a chance they’d be able to attack them by breaking the glass and entering, they could even end up trashing the engine somehow. They would be fine though, Louis assured himself, all they would need to do is maim them and they’d be able to safely escape. But then he remembered how low Zayn said they were running on ammunition. Every shot would count. 

As if on instinct, Zayn pointed the barrel of the gun to one, firing one of his darts. The raptor made a pained noise, and he loaded the second dart, shooting it at another. Liam, who barely knew how to use a gun aided Zayn in his efforts to stop the raptors, firing a few rounds that only managed to hit the third raptor in it’s legs, immobilizing it for a minute.

“I’m nearly out of rounds,” Liam informed Zayn worriedly, while he tossed his own gun off to the side, all the while Louis pulse rate skyrocketed.

“Quick hand me the gun,” Zayn replied, looking back at the raptors who were all writhing on the ground.

It should have been enough time for Zayn to get on the helicopter and for the pilot to take off, but they weren’t allowed the luxury.

The two raptors shot with Zayn’s darts instantly ripped them out of their skin with their teeth, snarling at the way he had tried to disempower them. You could almost see the rage sizzling off their scaly skin.The third one began to stand too, nearly unaffected by the shots Liam had inflicted upon her.

Zayn faced Liam and him with fear in his eyes, and Louis knew what that meant, that there wasn’t enough ammunition to subdue all of them. If there were only a few bullets left, the raptors would still be able to get to them, and in all likelihood, none of them would be able to fly out of there with three raptors larger than themselves facing them down.

Louis watched as Zayn turned his head to view the raptors, now on their feet, then move back to face them. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Zayn’s hand flicker into his front pocket of his pants, while he was going through the motions in his head.

Louis saw the exact moment it clicked into place.

Looking up at Liam with what can only be described as a look a pure guilt, Zayn shouted over the spinning blades, “ _Assalamu Alaikum,_ Liam!”

Liam’s confused expression grew even deeper when Zayn crashed their lips together in a bruising kiss, they both looked taken aback when they parted. Louis’ jaw dropped and in any other circumstance he would’ve been wolf-whistling at his friend, but as it was this was no time for wolf-whistling. 

Liam went to reach out for Zayn, to pull him into safety, but Zayn had other ideas. He shoved Liam straight in the chest, sending him toppling into Louis into the helicopter, and slammed the door shut. He raised his thumbs to the pilot, indicating for him to begin his ascend. Was he really about to-

“Zayn!” Liam screamed, his voice cracking around the urgency, scrambling to get back to the door. “What is he doing ?! What the hell does he think he’s doing?!”

As Liam attempted to pry the door open, Louis watched with disbelief as Zayn raised his gun in the air, firing off the last three rounds to get the raptors’ attention. All the while Liam was shouting with terror evident in his tone, Louis couldn’t tear his eyes away as Zayn pulled the rough object out of his pocket. He gasped.

It was a grenade.

Zayn was going to sacrifice himself to allow them to escape.

The helicopter began lifting off the ground, the pilot ignoring Liam’s orders to, “Put it back down!”

Once Zayn was sure he had the attention of all the raptors, he egged them on, begging for them to follow. He held the grenade out to his side, and within an instant, disappeared into the trees.

The raptors darted after him, sending Liam into hysterics trying to rip open the door, despite the protests of the pilot and EMP.

“Liam calm down,” Louis tried to pull him away despite being strapped tightly to the seat, “you can’t help him if you’re just throwing yourself at the door, c’mon.”

Louis’ stomach was doing all sorts of flips as he could feel them ascending. But, Liam was in a right state and as his best friend it was his job to bring him back to reality. Liam whipped his head to look at Louis, his eyes were blurry and his cheeks all blotchy how they are when he finishes a good workout.

“He’s out there Louis, he just fucking ran and those monsters followed him!”

Louis gripped both of his friend’s shoulders, “Breathe with me, Li. Breathe with me.”

Liam searched his face incredulously, but after a second he was heaving deep breaths along with Louis’ instruction. The red began to fade from Liam’s face, Louis could tell his mind was beginning to clear as well. The moment was calm for just that second before it was ruined.

The helicopter swerved to the side, Louis jolted back into his seat clutching the sides of vehicle. Off to the side of them was a cloud of smoke, Louis saw it before he heard the way the explosion pierced through the sound of the helicopter.

“Zayn!” Liam, running on pure adrenaline was able to flip the latch and knocked it right off its hinges, sending the door flying open with a clash. They were barely ten feet from the ground and Liam landed hazardly onto the launchpad, crashing down on his right side. Louis kicked into action, his instinct to protect his friend motivating him to start blindly unlatching himself from the seat.

“Liam!” Louis cried, unbuckling himself from his seat. He leaned over to the pilot, hoping he’d hear him over the sounds of the winds. “Bring this helicopter down!”

He moved to stand right in front of the gaping space where the door should be as they descended. He could feel his limbs tensing as he looked down, it was only ten feet and decreasing with every second but his brain didn’t associate it like that. Instead, he saw an endless fall that could break him into a million pieces. But, it was Liam he was going to save, he had to make sure he got off this island. Even if it was the last thing he did.

Eventually they were close enough to the ground that Louis could jump out without injury, he couldn’t wait for the pilot to formally land and turn off the engine. So he ignored the EMP’s yell to wait and jumped out landing low in a crouch. He stood and raced after Liam, his significantly shorter legs forcing him to exert more force in order to catch up.

“Liam!” he called again. A cloud of dust rose in his wake as he skidded to a halt before he jumped onto Liam’s back, the weight causing him to trip and brought them toppling forward.

“Liam stop! You can’t help him now, he’s probably not even alive!” With each word he inhaled more and more smoke, constricting his windpipe, sending tears to his eyes from the pressure of it.

Liam looked like his chest was in the same pain as Louis’s was, but he disregarded it. “I don’t care Louis! I told him he was not going to die, so I can’t just leave him out there!”

Liam coughed and threw a hand over his mouth as he sprinted past Louis further and further into the woods. Louis blamed himself for Liam exhibiting such stubbornness, but had no choice but to follow his friend to make sure he wasn’t killed either.

Flames danced around their feet and smoke battled its way into their lungs as they sought out Zayn, if there was anything of Zayn left to sought out.

They ran through the inflamed trees for a few more minutes, Louis beginning to feel faint from all the smoke inhalation. But fate was playing on their side it seemed that day, as his feet smacked into a large mass, sending him toppling over onto the ash covered ground.

“Liam, I,” upon further inspection Louis’ mouth went dry at what he saw, croaking out, “think I found him.”

Liam whipped around and was by his side at lightening speed. They shared a quick look, and Louis could see the nerves building up in Liam. He was scared, Louis was too, at what state they would find their friend in.

Zayn’s face was covered in soot, scratches ran all over his face, patches on his arms were burned an inflamed red, both of his hands were charred black. Louis wanted to turn away before bile rose up his throat as his nose caught scent of burning flesh. He watched as Liam heaved him up into a sitting position, Zayn’s body limp in his arms, his head landing heavily onto Liam’s chest.

“Zayn, wake up,” Liam cradled his face, “please. Be alive, please be alive.”

The scene was heart wrenching, Louis had never seen his friend so desperate. But they needed to get out, fast. The fire was spreading and the smoke was engulfing them to the point he could barely see a few feet in front of them.

It was the moment when Louis swore he’d pass out if he had to breathe another lungful of smoke that it happened. Liam was pleading, holding Zayn close, when the raptor expert’s chest rose and he finally choked out a wracking cough.

“Oh thank god,” Liam cried out, teardrops sliding down his blackened cheeks.

Louis gripped his friend’s shoulder, pulling him back to reality. “Liam, we have to go.”

Liam looked up at him, his eyes finally seemed to have cleared, like everything had slotted into place at once and Zayn had been the reason for it. Louis crouched down and took one of Zayn’s arms hauling him up with Liam’s help. Zayn seemed to be half conscious, his eyes slowly blinking as he took in his surroundings. Louis thought it was safe to assume he’d go into shock, and hopefully that would make him easy to maneuver back to the helicopter.

They moved as swiftly as they could through the burning foliage and encompassing smoke that swirled around them. They weren’t as far from the helicopter as Louis thought seeing as they reached the launch pad in record time. The door was already pried open of course, an EMP was bravely stepping out to help them carry Zayn in.

Inside the helicopter, they set Zayn down on the stretcher and filed in behind him.

“Everyone strap in, I need everyone in a seat.” The pilot commanded. Louis didn’t hesitate and jumped right into his previous seat and clicked the seatbelt into its latch.

Liam sat himself in the seat closest to Zayn, whose stretcher was secured to the wall. The EMP turned on the oxygen machine from his kit and placed the mask over his face before moving into his own seat.

The engine revved up once more and Louis tried to relax the thrumming of blood in his ears. The helicopter lifted off the ground and Louis sighed in relief. They had done it, they’d escaped the god forsaken island.

Louis spoke too soon.

As they rose into the air a roar from below pierced through the air. It caused Louis’ skin to crawl and his blood to freeze.

She trotted towards the elevating machine they were sat in, not exactly in attack position, but more like she was investigating  the area.

The Tyrannosaurus was too far below to reach them, so Louis collapsed back down in relief, but never took his eyes off the creature. The farther the helicopter flew away from the island, the farther she walked after it, almost like it was a toy taken away from a baby by their mother.

She tilted her head, and Louis wondered exactly she would do once they left. He wondered what all of the animals would do now that no one would be there to run the park, at least for a while until someone else steps in or the park is shut down for good. He couldn’t imagine after what happened that investors or the government of Costa Rica nor the UK would permit the park to stay in commission any longer.

But the animals, they would go on with their lives. Some were still trapped behind the fences of their compounds, but the rest that weren’t, would most likely create their own new world and ecosystem on the island. It would be close to the prehistoric times, but it would never be exactly as it had been. They might not even live for much longer anyway, a dozen years at most, since the carnivores were still roaming around to eat the herbivores. The ones behind the fences would eventually die out, and since all the animals were female, there would be no way to reproduce, ending virtually all their bloodlines. The dinosaurs would go extinct, yet gain.

Louis watched as the island grew smaller and smaller, the tops of the trees blending into each other until they simply looked like one continuous field of green. The blue looked as if it could engulf the island at any moment, it made what they experienced down there seem otherworldly, like it existed in an alternate reality. Like it had all just been some sort of fever dream. The rough sea salt stung the cuts on his face and despite being hundreds of feet in the air he felt the most safe than he had in the last 48 hours.

He faced Liam, who was hovering over Zayn’s unconscious body while the EMP monitored his vitals on a handheld device, gently caressing the burnt hairs away from his dark complexion.

“ _Wa’alaikum salaam,_ Zayn.” Louis heard him whisper to the man, though he didn’t quite understand what it signified. From what Zayn said to Liam earlier and now this, Louis guessed it was an inside thing between the two. He hoped it meant they were going to be okay.

 _Wa’alaikum salaam,_ he repeated in his head. He surveyed his friends before taking in the tiny speckle of the island in the distance.

Yeah, they were going to be okay.

 


	9. Epilogue part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so Mel and I decided to break the epilogue down into two parts, Ziam and Larry. Hope you enjoy :)))))))

**Liam.**

When they arrive at the hospital, they are all led into separate areas, spaced throughout the trauma floor of the Costa Rican building. Strings of spanish sentences fly all around him, as he tries to tell them he is fine and go to look for his friends. They aren’t listening, two nurses decked out in unflattering pink scrubs tugging on his arm as they pull him through the waiting room and into a wing with many beds, some already full of patients. They usher him to a bed, pulling the curtain behind him.

“No, wait!” He gasps frantically as they bring a monitor over, to where he guesses they would check his vitals, or something doctory like that. “I have to see my friends, to make sure they’re okay. Por favor!” He doesn't even know if they speak english.

One nurse, whose silk brown hair is elegantly tied in a bun, silences him with the flick of her wrist. “Señor, I understand you want to be with your friends,” oh thank god, she spoke sweet sweet english,  “but we have to check you to make sure you don’t have any injuries. You can find your friends after.”

“But I don’t have any injuries, I’m perfectly fi-” He winces as sharp pokes cascade through his lower arm as he lifts it up to show the nurse how _uninjured_ he is, effectively ending his argument there. She gives him a pointed look as he clutches his right arm to his chest, muttering an, “uh huh,” under her breath as she pulls a few medical instruments out.

Now that Liam is actually looking at himself and not running for his life, he could feel the underlying effects of what he’d experienced on the island. His neck, back, and feet are sore as hell, not to mention his lungs still hurt from the smoke inhalation. Those aren’t as serious as his arm though, which he notes as the nurse pulls it out to her body, inspecting it thoroughly. It is bruised in a large area between his wrist and elbow, fading into a light green color. And by the way pain persists through, some very _obvious_ pain, he knew it definitely isn’t good.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, how much is your pain, Mr. Payne?” She asks in her thick accent.

Liam would laugh at the play on words, but the way she twists his arm nearly brings tears to his eyes, so he just sticks to uttering a, “9.”

She hums to herself, the other nurse going over to tell her something in spanish again. She nods her head, and then goes right back to inspecting his arm. She turns to him, “Well, there is probably a fracture in your arm, but we’ll have to take you down to get x-rays to be sure.”

Great. A broken arm. That’s exactly what he needs. He doesn’t even know how he could have gotten it, he didn’t do anything too strenuous, besides lifting Harry around the whole time, which couldn’t have broken his arm. Then he remembers jumping out of a moving helicopter roughly ten feet in the air, landing on his side. His right side to be exact. Oh.

The nurse, Maria, whose name he found out after searching for her name tag, gestures for him to get off the table, as he has no other apparent injuries. “Ok, if you’ll follow me now, I’ll take you down for x-rays.”

She made to pull the curtain back but he grabs her by the elbow, “Wait, please. I have to know if my friends are okay.” The nurse looks sick of him already, and he knows he is being uncooperative, but he needs to know, especially Zayn. And Louis too, of course.

“Fine, fine!” She says, motioning for the other nurse to join her. “Tell me their names, and we’ll locate them and give you an update after you get your screenings done.”

Thank god, he wants to scream. He would have to wait a while, but that is okay. “Louis, uh Louis Tomlinson. Then there’s Harry Styles, Niall, um I can’t remember his last name, shit. But he has blond hair that sticks up and he’s a bit twiggy.” He rattles off the information to the second nurse, who had located a memo pad as was inscribing the details down. “And then Zayn, uh, Zayn Malik. Can you do that for me, please?”

“Si señor, I’ll do my best.” She pushes past the curtain soon after, and then Maria is leading him down a corridor and into the x-ray room.

 It doesn’t take very long for them to x-ray his arm, and while he’s sitting slumped in the waiting room for his results, the second nurse gives the news about his friends.

Louis, the lucky bastard, has only a few broken ribs to account for, which didn’t require any sort of brace or cast, and was told they’d just have to feel on their own. She says h’ll join him shortly. Niall, who came out almost scotch free, had apparently only faced a handful of cuts from being charged by the pterodactyls, and is currently in the trauma bay getting stitched up by one of the doctors. Zayn and Harry, on the other hand, had suffered the worst of them all.

By some sheer force of luck, the helicopters were able to get Harry back there in enough time before any more serious damage could be done. He wasn’t okay by any means, but they’d saved him more time. She couldn’t explain much, since they weren’t family, but she does inform Liam that they’d taken him into surgery and they’d just have to wait and see.

Then there was Zayn. Zayn who had kissed him out of nowhere before nearly taking his life in attempts to stop the raptors from killing them. Zayn, who is now lying somewhere in the trauma bay with high degree burns on his hands and probably elsewhere on his body, just because he wanted to become a martyr, after Liam had told him directly that he wasn’t going to die. If Liam wasn’t so concerned for Zayn’s life right then, he would be fuming.

Louis comes out a while later, insisting on going with Liam when they wrap his arm because yes indeed, he did fracture it. All for stupid Zayn who thought it was a good idea to kiss him then try to kill himself.

He tells Louis what the nurse told him about Harry, squeezing his friend tightly before they are ushered into another room for his arm to be wrapped.

They find Niall out later, sitting in the waiting room with his head in his hands, bruised, but not broken. All three suffered the least, injury wise, but their emotions are off the chart, like one bad move could send them into a fit of hysterics.

They wait what seems like hours, huddling together in the emergency room, people flowing in and out with each passing second.

Then a doctor comes out, alongside a red-blotched Edward Twist, and Liam doesn’t want to assume the worst. Twist doesn’t look like he wants to speak to either of them, but for the sake of morality, he allows the doctor to give them any information she can.

She explains that Harry was immediately taken into surgery, where they gave him three whole pints of blood and cleaned the wound. There wasn’t an infection, like they’d thought, but there wasn’t much for them to salvage of it either.

They aren’t allowed to see him, either, which makes it a little bit worse, and puts Louis visibly on edge. He tries to be there for his friend, even after the doctor and Twist leave and advise them to do the same, but he can’t stop thinking about Zayn. Zayn is the only member of their little team that they haven’t gotten good information on, and while Liam does care for Harry’s safety and is glad he’s okay, he needs to know whether Zayn is alright or not. It becomes his top priority.

Even after Niall physically drags Louis out of the hospital with promises of returning when Harry is awake, Liam stays, calling out that he’ll meet them at whatever hotel they get later. He finds the nurse that had helped him earlier, begging for her to bring him to Zayn. She caves, because no one can resist his puppy brown eyes, and leads him up to the second floor where the burn unit is.

Zayn is awake when they reach his room, but the doctor comes out then, and beckons Liam over to him.

“Are you Liam?” He asks, shoving a pen in his pocket.

Liam has no other choice but to say yes.

“Okay, well your friend is in pretty bad shape.” The balding man explains. “He’s got second degree burns on his hands and first degree burns on various other places. He’ll have to get skin grafts, but even then, his hands will be permanently damaged.” Liam doesn’t care if Zayn will be permanently damaged, he just needs to know how he is now and if he can see him. “He knew you’d be coming to see him, and wanted me to tell you,” he pauses. “He wanted me to tell you he doesn’t want to see you. He doesn’t want to see anyone right now.”

And that nearly breaks Liam. Because, Zayn just can’t do that. He can’t risk his life then refuse to see him. He kissed him for crying out loud, and now he doesn’t want to see him? What, did he change his mind in the course of being almost blown to pieces?

The doctor sees how visibly confused and hurt he is. “Maybe tomorrow, when he’s not in so much pain. We’re giving him meds for the pain, so that’s probably clouding his judgement.”

Liam doesn’t have anything else to do but shake his head in agreement, and prays the next day Zayn will be well enough to want to see him.

 

When they come back in the morning, after a sleepless night at some rundown motel, Louis immediately goes to see Harry, but is turned down. Seeing as Harry was still in the ICU and only family members are allowed in, he’s stuck in the waiting room getting updates from his sister Gemma, who flew down as soon as she got the news. She’s a lovely girl, but Liam doesn’t pay much attention to her.

He tries to see Zayn again. They’ve moved him from the burn unit into a regular room, somewhere on the third floor. He goes to the desk and asks for a “Zayn Malik,” only to get a head shake from the nurse on staff.

So Zayn still didn’t want to see him, then.

He tries not to think too much of it, because Zayn is obviously in some serious pain, and if Liam were in his position, he doesn’t think he’d want anyone to see him all burned like that, either.

But it doesn’t stop it from hurting.

After a few hours him and Louis are set to leave the hospital, but get pulled to the side by a few men in suits, and he thinks back to when Twist’s executives first approached him and Louis that fateful night after their unveiling of Meley. He doesn’t think he’ll be getting a job offer this time.

He’s right. As it turns out, Edward Twist, and Twist Corporations, is being sued for everything they have, by the families of the victims of the “Jurassic Park Tragedy” as deemed by the media (which has been everywhere since the news broke late last night).

And there’s to be a trial held. The lawyers tell them things are still being set up, but when there is an official date, they’ll need to come in and give their testimonies, detailing what exactly went on in the park over the weekend. There’s even a good chance they’ll be recompensed, having to do with you know, almost being eaten a million times over.

He almost feels bad for Twist. Almost.

It becomes a little cycle for them, going to the hospital, getting shut out of seeing their friends, Louis because he’s not immediate family and Liam because Zayn still refuses to see him. Niall has already left town to go back to Ireland, as his family have been extremely worried for him and he wouldn’t let them come down to Costa Rica. But on the last day, about a week later, after being hounded by reporters on their way in and millions of worried phone calls from their families, the cycle is broken.

First, Louis is told by Twist’s lawyers that he isn’t allowed to have any contact with Harry, the both of them, as per Twist’s request. They only say he doesn’t want him to interfere with Harry’s testimonies at the trial, which sounds like bs; they all knew how Twist felt about Louis towards the end.

Second, Liam goes to make his usual trip to Zayn’s room, expecting a nurse on call to give him the same update. What he doesn’t expect is an empty room, with another nurse pulling the sheets off the bed.

“Where’s Zayn?” He asks.

“He’s gone,” she explains, tucking the blankets under her arms. “Checked out last night. Refused any other treatment the doctors had to offer. Don’t know what he was thinking.”

Liam just waits there for a minute, hoping Ashton will pop out from the corner to tell him he’s secretly been on Punk’d this whole week. It never happens.

He’s only left with a confusion and a broken heart. Because even though he knows him and Zayn aren’t anything he knows what he felt,  and he felt _something_ between them. It was like fire to the touch, an electric shock that moved through his very core. He thought it was why Zayn kissed him.

In the end there’s nothing left for him and Louis to do but go home. He doesn’t know where Zayn’s gone, and he doesn’t know if he’s ever going to see him again, so they catch an earlier plane back to Manchester. Louis doodles on his cast through the whole flight, distracting both of them from the underlying sense of disappointment they feel. He doesn’t know why, but it makes him feel a little better. At least he still has Louis.

 

He sees his family when they get back, taking a much needed trip up to Wolverhampton to visit with his mum, dad, and sisters. They baby him and his mum cries over his broken arm, but other than that, it’s a much needed vacation he’d been wanting to take for a while. The circumstances that account for the impromptu trip aren’t ideal, and everyone in the household tiptoes around him for the first couple of days, but being in their presence is enough to warm up the last frayed edges Liam’s had since he touched down in England.

When he gets back home, his real home with Louis, there isn’t anything for him to do. He decides not to go back to the excavation site, no matter how badly their team wants to see him and make sure he’s okay. It’s just too much for him, and he’s not ready yet. He doesn’t know if he’ll ever be ready, but the whole field was never _that_ much of an interest to him, like it had been with Louis. Sure, Louis was a bit disappointed when Liam informed him he wouldn’t be going back, but he accepted it with an, “It’ll be okay Payno, someday.”

He’s holed up in the flat by himself most days, as Louis is normally at the site finishing up the bird and getting the other members all situated before they disband. When Louis is around, he physically makes Liam leave the flat, telling him he needs, “ _real_ interaction with _real_ people” before the trial, which is set to begin on December 5th.

 

When the first leagues of the trial roll around, he isn’t nervous. Not really. Until he gets there and realizes that Zayn would be there to testify too. It would be the first time he’d see Zayn in nearly a month, and he isn’t ready, by any means.

But Harry’s there, sitting with his grandfather and their family, and he suspects that’s why Louis is more anxious than usual. Harry’s got his sleeves pulled all the way down, so no one can see the damage to his arm. It makes Liam’s heart ache.

Louis goes up first, and gives a great description of his experiences at the park. there are so many things he says that Liam didn’t even know about, and he hates himself just a little bit that his best friend had to go through that. If he had just been there, maybe he could have avoided it.

Liam goes up after a cross-examination, and is asked the same questions as Louis. He’s then asked by the plaintiff's lawyer, “Dr. Payne, do you think, in your professional opinion, that this park could have avoided a tragedy such as this one?”

Liam looks out into the filled courtroom. It’s like a scene from csi or one of those crime shows he never watched that Louis always gushed over. It’s terrifying, and so many important people are watching him. Edward Twist is down there waiting for his fate to be determined, Harry Styles is burning holes into the back of Louis’ head, Niall is biting his nails in anticipation, and Zayn is… not there.

He’s not surprised in the slightest, just disappointed a little. Okay, maybe a lot. He was really expecting.. hoping Zayn would at least be there to testify. But the trial looks to be long; it will probably span a couple of months at the least, so Zayn would be called to come in at some point, right?

Back to the question at hand. “That’s quite a difficult question to answer,” he begins. “I think there’s a lot of things to take into consideration here. This is a theme park, and like every other theme park in existence, there have been delays, backups, mechanical problems. So no, I don't think a problem like this could have been avoided. It was bound to happen eventually, I just don't think anyone anticipated at the magnitude that it was.”

 

The trial ends sometime in April, after five grueling months. He doesn't pay too much attention to it, and is only called in a few more times to testify or give his “expertise” on something related. He only knows that after a hefty investigation against Twist Corporations, the park is to be shut down indefinitely, and the families of the killed workers were to receive huge sums to compensate the loss of their loved ones. There were memorials for the dead right after the trial began, but he never felt it right to attend.

And it comes to him as a surprise that there's a clause in the agreement that the families wanted when they pressed the lawsuit, compensating any other person who was in no relation to Edward Twist that was on the island that day and survived. That meant him, Louis, Niall, Zayn, and even Perrie, who flew off to some tropical resort, would be given a share of the money.

They can't refuse the money, no matter how much he wants to. He doesn't feel right about leaving them with nothing, even Harry, who was only cheated out of the earnings because he was Twist’s blood.

He doesn't know how Zayn will get his shares. No one seems to know where he is, or it's just too confidential to tell him. It's like he fell off the face of the earth.

 

They win a lot, he's basically set for life. He'd seriously underestimated how much Edward Twist was really worth. He doesn't really need to work again.

He still lives conformably in his and Louis’ shared flat, only leaves when they run out of food, or to go to his physical therapy appointments, which he has to have now that his arm is healed and the cast is off.

It's one day when he's at the supermarket, that it finally happens. Louis insisted on having pasta for dinner, and sent Liam out as his weekly “get your lazy bum out of the house” trip.

He's walking down the pasta aisle, deciding whether or not to get bowtie or penne, when he hears a small commotion coming from a few aisles over.

“No, sir you have to pay for that before you buy it!” Comes from a heated employee.

“Please, I just need a little bit,” a voice begs, sounding so familiar even though he hasn’t heard it in nearly five months. “I’ll pay when I get to the front, I promise just let me-” He stops mid sentence, stilling his hands from struggling with the worker from where they were wrapped around a pink bottle of what looked like lotion when Liam turns the corner.

And wow, like, he heard the voice, knew who it was, but actually seeing him in the flesh, after what seemed like a decade, still takes his breath away.

“Zayn,” he says, trying to sound like this is a normal thing, them meeting in the middle of a grocery store after god knows how long. Zayn looks like a deer caught in headlights.

“Liam-” he tugs the sleeves of his jacket down, like he wants to hide what’s underneath.

“H-how’ve you been? I haven’t, um we haven’t heard anything from you since-”

“Yeah um,” Zayn interrupts, voice thick with anxiety. “I’ve been pretty busy since the,” he vaguely registers the store worker still standing by him. “the thing.”

Zayn is acting weird, it makes Liam feel weird. Maybe he really didn’t want to see Liam all this time afterall. “Oh, yeah I understand. Me too sometimes, what with the press and everything-”

“Sorry Liam, I really need to go.” Zayn interjects again, totally put off by something Liam had said. He doesn’t know from what, and watches as Zayn pushes past him to the front of the store. The alarm goes off when Zayn strides out of the shop, not bothering to turn around.

“Wait, I’ll pay for it when I come back!” Liam yells at a cashier who was two seconds from knocking Zayn to the ground. He follows him out regardless of the hurry Zayn’s in, because he can’t just leave like that? Not without a proper conversation or explanation of why he left him in the dirt for the last five months. “Zayn hold up a minute!” Zayn doesn’t stop walking until he’s at his car, opening a door to a brown pickup truck. “Zayn, just talk to me. What’s going on with you? I just want to know if you’re okay. I’ve been worried about you.”

“You don’t even know me, Liam.” He says as he sits in the drivers seat.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t care about you.”

“Well do yourself a favor and stop.” It’s the last thing that comes out of his mouth before the door is slammed shut and the car is backing out of the parking place, leaving Liam with a gaping mouth and a even bigger tear in his heart. So many questions are left unanswered.

 

Seeing Zayn again after so long, and having him basically shut Liam out, should have given him some sort of closure. But it only serves to create a hole inside him that he can’t fill.

He takes to the gym regularly now, just to get his mind off of things. Because that’s the one thing he can’t stop picturing, the way Zayn looked at him like Liam was no more than someone you bumped into on the street and didn’t give two shits about.

One night, after bench pressing his sorrows for three hours, he finds himself at a bar down the street from the gym, craving a beer, which he hasn’t had in such a long time.

He’s just sat down and ordered himself one, when he looks off to the other side of the bar, and his heart drops in his chest. You’d think because he saw him that one time over a week ago it wouldn’t come as such a shock to him, but there Zayn is, in all his tan colored glory slumped against the counter, and Liam forgets how to breathe.

Zayn hasn’t looked up from where his head lay rested on the bar yet, and it takes him a good minute of staring to realize that his eyes are closed, and he’s more than likely passed out from intoxication. It worries him even more, and Liam isn’t sure he wants to let his presence be known. Afterall, Zayn acted like he didn’t want anything to do with him before, and now, with the fact that he’s pretty much gone, he doesn’t know how Zayn will react to him being here.

 It’s not even ten yet, which is disheartening since it’s so early for him to have already consumed enough to pass out, but Liam sticks to his seat watching nervously as he sips at his beer. He wonders what Zayn must be going through to have him in here like this.

“Do you know him?” The bartender sneaks up on him after a moment, noticing Liam’s obvious staring.

He lowers his glass. “Oh, kinda, we um, used to work together.” It’s not necessarily a lie. “Just a little shocked to see him in here is all.”

“Really?” The bartender asks, surprise etched in his features, like this was a regular thing. “He’s in here almost every night. Comes in around eight, is usually gone by nine, and passes out by ten.” 

Liam gapes at the new information, feeling his heart sink even further. “How does he get home then? Surely someone comes and gets him?”

The man behind the bar just shakes his head. “He doesn’t bother anyone here, so we normally just let him sleep it off until closing. By then he’s still pretty out of it, but carries on his own way.”

Liam wants to slap himself for not understanding sooner. Well, he still doesn’t understand much now, but everything is somewhat clearer. Zayn is a wreck, coming here every night to either forget, or calm himself. It explains why Zayn didn’t want to see him that day at the market, and why he looked and acted so foreign. But what it really all meant was there was something else underlying everything, like Zayn wasn’t done facing his trauma.

He feels it right in the moment, like it’s a necessary thing to do. Zayn may not want it, but Liam cares about him; they’d been through so much together and it’s too intoxicating for Liam to just pretend like it doesn’t exist.

He sets his drink down and pays, making his way over to where Zayn has drifted off. “Hey, Zayn,” he whispers, nudging his shoulders. “Zayn It’s time to go.”

Zayn starts to stir when Liam puts more force on him, slinging his arm over his shoulder. “Wha… mmpgmmhf.” He slurs into his shirt, drops of drool landing on Liam’s shoulder.

“I’m taking you home, you don’t need to be out like this.” Liam grabs a napkin and asks for a pen, before scribbling down his name and number in the corner. He slides it to the bartender, “Here’s my number. Can you just call me whenever he comes in and passes out if it isn’t too much trouble?”

The man nods and Liam gives a, “thanks,” before he’s practically dragging his friend’s dead wait outside. It takes him a while, but he’s able to get him situated in the passenger’s seat, head tilted back so he doesn’t get a crick in his neck. God, Liam doesn’t even know why he’s taking such care of him right now, after the way he treated him like trash. But he can’t help it, it’s like if Zayn’s unhappy or hurting, Liam is too.

He barely gets Zayn coherent enough to rattle off some sort of address, and within a few minutes he’s parking his car outside what he hopes is Zayn’s flat.

Zayn is mumbling nonsense into his sleeve as he walks them to the door, saddened to find the door unlocked. God, Zayn really was going through something terrible. He nudges it open and leads them inside, where Zayn is immediately detaching himself from Liam’s side, stumbling into a chair that sits not a few feet from the door.

“No, Liam.” He mutters, pulling his jacket off and tossing it on the couch. “Go away, I told you to leave me alone.”

Liam is still at a loss for words, but his anger burns hot, and finds them for him. “Zayn, this is out of control. I mean, look at yourself! The bartender told me you go every night and waste yourself away. He said there’s never anyone to help you so I brought you home, to try and help. You can’t just shut me out like you’ve been doing ever since we got off that island!” His voice trembles and his face feels red hot. He knows angry tears are threatening to spill and is thankful that they are submersed in the dark.

“I don’t need any help,” he slurs just as harsh, staggering off to god knows where. “And I definitely don’t need yours, so get out of my flat.”

Zayn disappears into what Liam assumes is his bedroom, but Liam doesn’t follow. He knows when he’s not wanted. But it doesn’t stop him from fishing out Zayn’s phone from his jacket and programming his number in it, just in case. He sends a text to himself and saves Zayn’s number, because even if Zayn never calls, he’ll still have that one link between them. He leaves with no prospect of him being okay without a single word.

 

The next night he gets a call from Sal, the bartender. It’s not even nine thirty yet and Zayn’s already out of it. He shows up of course, not without a fight from Zayn with strings of, “leave me alone”, and “go away”, but he doesn’t listen. He takes him home and gets him into bed, checking Zayn’s phone. Liam’s number has been deleted, so he programs it back in.

That becomes a regular cycle for them. Liam will get the call and rush to the bar to get Zayn, and once at home, get him in bed and program his number back in his phone, because Zayn always deletes it. At first, Zayn would yell at him until he was out of breath and on the floor, and Liam would sometimes forget why he was even there in the first place. It seemed to get them nowhere; Zayn was still hurting, and because of that, Liam was hurting. But the more it dragged on, or the longer Liam stayed, the less aggressive Zayn got. By the end of the second week of this routine, Zayn isn’t saying a word to him. He has no clue what’s going on in Zayn’s mind, and doesn’t know if he wants to know.

By the end of the third week, there’s some progress. The last time Liam checked Zayn’s contacts, his number was still in there. He considers it a little win.

By the end of the fourth week, instead of the bar’s number popping up of his phone screen, it’s Zayn’s. He doesn’t believe it at first, but then hears the accent of Zayn’s voice asking for Liam to come get him, and somehow he thinks things just got a little bit better.

Zayn doesn’t fight him anymore, doesn’t scream for him to get out. He even accepts Liam’s help graciously as they enter his flat. It’s better, for sure, than it had been a month ago. A month ago after Zayn came back into his life he questioned everything, like why he would even help a man who wanted nothing to do with him. A month ago there was a Zayn-shaped hole in his heart, and while it isn’t gone all the way, pieces have been filled in. And even if Zayn doesn’t feel the same, Liam just wants him to be okay.

One night he’s taking Zayn home after he called him, and he’s particularly quiet, and not nearly as drunk as he had been. It makes Liam think he’s getting better.

When they arrive at the flat, he takes Zayn directly to his bed and gets him comfortably under the blankets. He goes to leave for the night but feels a tug on his hand by the rough texture of Zayn’s.

“Stay,” he whispers into his pillow, and Liam feels the air fly out of his chest. “Just stay,” which is the last thing Zayn says before his hand goes limp and he passes out.

Liam feels so many things all at once bouncing around in his head and his chest, and does exactly what Zayn told him to. He won’t lay with him in his bed, because that’s Zayn’s space and they aren’t at that level of whatever yet. So he chooses instead to camp out on the couch, taking a pillow with him. He’s cold without a blanket, but he doesn’t mind.

 

When morning rolls around he’s up before Zayn is, who he finds still resting in his room. He leaves for a moment to go to the shop, deciding that Zayn deserves a nice home cooked meal, seeing as he only had a few slices of bread and expired milk when he last checked his fridge.

He stocks Zayn’s pantry and his fridge after spending quite a lot; though he doesn’t mind since he’s now loaded. He sets to work on making scrambled eggs and pancakes for breakfast, humming to himself while he works.

He hears someone clear their throat behind him, and spins around with spatula mid staff to see Zayn in his black shirt and pants from last night staring out him inquisitively. And it’s just, well Liam doesn’t want to say emotional, but it really is. It’s the first time he’s seen Zayn sober in well over a month. It’s the first time Zayn just looks like himself, even with the dark circles under his eyes, the scars on his hands, or the confused scrunch to his forehead.

 “What are you-”

“I hope you like eggs and pancakes,” Liam interrupts, flipping one that is simmering in the pan, trying to pretend that this is normal. “You should probably go shower while I finish breakfast up. Uh it’ll be a little while longer.”

“Oh,” Zayn replies, like he still has no clue what Liam is even doing there. “Um, sure.”

Liam makes sure to give him a smile when he disappears into the bathroom, and then the same one when he enters a few minutes later, hair wet and flopping into his eyes, wearing a dark grey shirt and sweatpants.

They seat themselves at opposite ends of the table, the plates of food and orange juice placed in front of them. Liam takes no time digging in, but Zayn just stares at him with his big sad brown eyes.

“Liam, what are you doing?” He asks.

Liam laughs at the question. “I’m eating the breakfast I cooked for us. Which you should start by the way it’s probably getting cold.”

Zayn just shakes his head. “No, Liam. I mean, what are you doing here with me? I was so awful to you. Why are you still here?”

So that’s the kind of talk their having. Well, better late than never.

“Because I care about you Zayn, and I want to be here.” Zayn’s never looked more confused. “You needed my help, whether you want to admit it or not. I’m not going to let you waste your life away because some awful and tragic thing happened to us.” He inhales, then exhales. “I’m here because I’m your friend. I’m here because you kissed me then tried to kill yourself. I’m here because I’ll take whatever you’ll throw at me. I’ll take the drunk you, or the pissy you, or the ‘I hate you Liam,’ you. I’m here because I care about you, Zayn. And I’m not going anywhere.”

Zayn is quiet for a moment, staring down at his eggs, like he’s calculating their very movement. Liam waits with a bated breath, starting to realize his declaration might have been a mistake, if Zayn’s not reacting.

He’s ready to pick up and run when he hears Zayn mumble out an, “okay.”

“Okay?” Zayn shakes his head. “Okay then, glad that’s settled.”

Liam grabs his finished plate and brings it to the sink. He’s got nothing else to do so he makes the move to grab his keys when Zayn speaks.

“Liam,” he says, snapping his attention to him. “Thank you.”

It isn’t long or heartfelt, but Liam knows what he means. He knows it’s all the things Zayn wishes he could say, but just can’t right now. He hopes it means Zayn will start letting him in. He hopes that this is the start of a better path for Zayn, and that maybe he’ll get better. Maybe one day he’ll be able to tell Liam everything, from the attempted suicide to the kiss, to the drinking and the lashing out, and the scars. The scars he knows will never fully heal. He hopes.

 

* * *

**Zayn.**

When he first wakes up in the hospital, it’s to searing pain shooting throughout the front of his body. He can feel it sweltering on his chest and hands, and he wouldn’t think the pain was all that bad, but the smell, the smell is what gets him. The putrid scent of charred flesh that was coming from him, from where the fire had clung to his skin as he tried not to die.

It had been a terrible thing, what he’d done. He made a promise to Liam that he wouldn’t die. So technically, he didn’t break that promise. But at the time, he was going to.

He doesn’t want to call it a suicide attempt, because that’s not what it was. It was more like sacrificing himself for the safety of the others, especially Liam. At that very moment, when he realized they were too outnumbered, he actually _wanted_ to become a martyr. He had slipped the grenade into his pocket in hopes that he wouldn’t need to use it, but he decided if he needed to use it, he would. And he wasn’t sad about giving his life, was the thing. He wasn’t upset, but he wasn’t happy about it either. Of all the thoughts that were going on in his head when he ran off into the forest, he distinctly remembers thinking about the others, and how he didn’t have much of a life anyway, so there wouldn’t be too much of a loss.

He doesn’t know where he is exactly, or how he got there, but the registers a room with noise everywhere- from the lights to the annoying people speaking a foreign language round him. The pain begins to subside after he feels a pinch in his lower arm, and just before he drifts off a doctor peers down at him. He explains to Zayn that his friends saved him from more serious burns, and they would be taking excellent care of him, not to freak out.

But of course when he wakes up again, that’s exactly what he does. He’s in pain and he feels like he’s broken, and while the doctors and nurses are all floating around him, all he can think about is who is waiting outside for him, and how he can’t stand the thought of facing them.

Zayn tells the doctor to relay a message for him if any of the others come around to check on him, to send them away.

It works out for him for a while, because he can’t stand the embarrassment, and he doesn’t want to see the pity in their eyes. All he wants is to go home.

So that’s what he does.

It’s after his very nice, but tiring doctor finishes telling him what all they have to do to fix him that he decides he’s ready to go. He doesn’t want treatment; he’d rather live with the reminder of what happened than stay in the hospital any longer with people waiting around for him. He just wants to forget everything already, and staying there isn’t helping him to.

He leaves after a few days, despite the doctors much, much better advice to stay to get treatment. He checks out in the middle of the night with ruined hands and a small bottle of pills that a nurse swiped for him, which help alleviate the pain somewhat.

He’s managed to snag a last minute seat on a flight back to Bradford and finds himself thousands of feet in the air, wishing he could wake up from this nightmare. While he lives in Manchester, Bradford is his childhood home, where he knows he’ll stay safe with his family, no questions asked.

The only things Zayn really has left is his family, everything gone with the rest of the park. He assumes it’ll be shut down; he hasn’t turned on the news once to see any of the happenings. He’s only bombarded with a few questions from his mum and sisters, and gives them little pieces if details. Once they see he physically cannot bring himself to talk about it, they stop all mentions of Jurassic Park, Edward Twist, and dinosaurs. He’s never been more thankful for them in his life.

His mum fusses over the burns on his hands, and takes it upon herself to clean and dress the wounds twice a day while he stays with them. She worries about him, he knows. He can see the sadness behind her chocolate eyes as she pretends everything is okay with him. She is good, for doing that.

Zayn’s dad is as kind and caring as ever, understanding that his son needs space and time to be alone. And some days when his blisters are especially brutal, or an intense migraine won’t go away, his dad will bring him something to help with the pain. Even though his parents are devout muslims and he was raised with islam, his dad thinks there are some things that can be overlooked when needing help. In his case, it was the glass of gin when he couldn’t stand to face himself in the mirror.

His sisters take care of him while his parents are at work or out of the house, fixing him meals sometimes when days get so bad that he can’t pull himself out of bed. Safaa sleeps in his room most nights, and will sit up with him for hours playing cards or watching tv. He appreciates the distraction. Waliyha is the one who gets him out of his room on the days he feels like the world isn’t going to dissolve into a black hole, which is only to either the kitchen or the backyard; she laughs and asks, “since when did I become the older sibling?” He doesn’t let her see it but it cuts through him deeper than it should.

Doniya even comes around when she hears that he’s back, which makes him want to be better, for her. He hasn’t seen her in a few years, and doesn’t want to look like he just crawled out of a sewer when she finally sees him. When they reunite she pulls him into a bone crushing hug and sobs into his shoulder, and clings to her back just as tightly, revelling in the feel of his older sister, his protector, between his fingers.

It’s Doniya that tells him he needs to see a doctor, that she can see that’s there’s something not right with him. And he knows, that’s the thing. Zayn understands all the emotions he’s feeling, and how some days he’d rather die than get out of bed. He can’t control the internal environment of his mind or body, but he knows by the way his skin is numb all the time and the ever increasing need to get alcohol into his system to forget about the life that he wishes wasn’t his, that he’s suffering from some sort of traumatic stress disorder.

Zayn tells his sister he just can’t see a doctor yet, that nothing feels right and he fears that if he goes to see one they’ll just look at him like his dog died, and he doesn’t need that. She doesn’t push the issue any further, but does push him out of the house for more than thirty minutes everyday. If it wasn’t for her, he doesn’t think he’d of known that it was snowing for the first time this year. Snow makes him happy, so he feels a little better.

He knows this isn’t just something that can be fixed with medicine and good wishes; it’s something that he needs to battle with until it goes away on it’s own. He decides around the first of the new year that he’s spent too much time taking away from his family without giving them anything in return, and hitches a ride back to Manchester.

His mum assures him that he isn’t a burden and that it’s their job to take care of each other, because that’s what family does. In the end he just can’t stay, feeling selfish to have wasted all their time looking after him. He isn’t some baby, and if he’s only going to get worse, he doesn’t want them to be around to see it.

Manchester is…. Manchester. It’s cold and rainy and the shops are the same and the people are boring. He’s been lucky in the fact that nothing has come out about him and Jurassic Park. There hasn’t been any news or media surrounding him, and no reporters have sought him out. It’s a blessing, but it also keeps him out of the loop on a lot of things. And even though he doesn’t talk to any of them anymore- Niall, Mr. Twist, Perrie, Louis, Liam- he’s still only slightly curious as to what they are up too.

Turns out he doesn’t have to wait too long to find out anything, because when he flips the tv on to some random channel, there, alive in the flesh, is Edward Twist, sitting at a podium in some court on some national event since the attacks at the park. Zayn makes to change the channel but a voice of one of the lawyers saying, “the plaintiff calls Dr. Liam Payne to the stand,” keeps his finger hovering over the button.

He shouldn’t watch it. He doesn’t need to see how Liam is doing, months after worrying about him and pretending like he never existed. But he can’t; Liam looks perfect and professional as he sits there giving a testimony that Zayn blurs out. All he can think about is that Liam is there and he’s fine, he’s able to do the things Zayn can’t. He can stand up there in front of a full courtroom and talk about what happened, while Zayn can barely stomach the memories.

He turns the tv off and cries into his sofa cushions for the third time that day.

There’s a bar by his flat. He only passed by it some days, before everything. But now he finds himself there once a week, just to get something in his system. Something to forget the brown eyes and the screams that he can never erase from his mind.

Once a week turns into twice a week. Twice a week becomes a couple of times, and then that becomes every night. He doesn’t mean for it to happen, but it just becomes so easy to immerse himself every night, to drink away all his problems, to act like he doesn't feel any of it for the most part. It works most nights, even if he wishes there was another way for him to get better. He thinks maybe the alcohol will kill him before he does it himself. Nearly every night for the past three months he’s gone to the bar and drank until he’s passed out. It’s a shitty routine but it gives him something to feel, especially when he’s throwing it up hours later.

Zayn hasn’t been keeping up with the trial anymore, but he knows it’s over by the way it’s completely weaned out of the media. He doesn’t know who won, but he’s pretty sure it wasn’t Twist.

One day his hands start burning really badly, so much that even a few drinks couldn’t diminish the pain. The blisters are festering again, and he desperately needs something to put on them. Against his better judgement he drives to one of the shops by his house, and combs the aisle scrounging for an ointment that will help. He locates some and doesn’t even bother paying for it first before applying a generous amount to each hand and rubbing.

He doesn’t expect a disgruntled worker to show up a few seconds later and start yanking it out of his hands, and he definitely doesn’t expect the smooth voice of the man he’s regretted knowing saying his name.

“Zayn-” he says, looking lost and sad. And Zayn just, has no clue what to do. It’s the first time he’s been face to face with Liam in over five months, and it’s not at all how he wanted it to go. Mostly because he didn’t want _it_ to go at all. He can’t stay and talk while Liam is looking at him like that and he _definitely_ doesn’t need Liam following him out of the store with nothing but pity sewn onto his face. He doesn’t care that he basically stole the ointment, only needing to get away from Liam as soon as possible, because if he looks at Liam for longer than a second, it’ll bring up all those things he’s tried so hard to forget.

But Liam is persistent, and Zayn would admire that about him if he wasn’t about to have a panic attack and didn’t have those shots of whiskey earlier.

He wishes it didn’t have to be like this, but he can’t stand to be in Liam’s presence. He tells him basically to fuck off. He tells him not to care about him. The only thing caring about Zayn would do is bring more sadness and disappointment.

So he leaves him there without a second glance back. He drives erratically back to his flat, amazed that even as bad as his driving was, there was no one pulling him over. He drinks some more when he realizes he probably put innocent people in trouble by driving under the influence, even if he didn’t cause any accidents.

Seeing Liam after so long had opened up a can of worms in his heart. It was like an endless cycle. He felt guilty for shutting Liam out, which led him to drink more. The more he drank, the guiltier he was.

It went on like that for a few days until he was pulled out of his intoxicated state at the bar by a firm hand gripping his shoulder. He was far too out of it to comprehend what was going on, so he just let whatever happened happen. He doesn’t recognize the warm body or the bulky arms holding him to their chest, and lets himself be walked out of the bar, barely holding onto consciousness.

The kind stranger gets him into his car, and maybe Zayn should have been more alert, because this person could be a murderer for all he knows, but he’s too drunk to care as the person asks for his address and he rattles it off like it’s the only thing he knows for sure.

The voice sounds somewhat familiar, and he tries hard to think about who it could belong to, but he passes out as soon as the car is starting, only to be woken up by the same stranger minutes later.

He’s pulling Zayn out of the car, and only when he gets the door open does he really open his eyes wide enough to see who the person is- and it’s not who he expected at all.

He didn’t expect to see Liam Payne tugging him inside his flat, which he now has the address of. He didn’t expect him to ever want to see him again, let alone help him home while drunk. He becomes angry with everything now, with the embarrassment he still feels, with the resentment towards Liam, the fact that he told him to leave him alone, and now he’s _here_ , going against Zayn’s wishes, seeing him at his lowest point and pitying him when he doesn’t need it.

He wants to yell and scream until his lungs collapse because how dare Liam just disregard everything he asked him too? What was going on in his mind that made him believe he could just come in here without Zayn’s permission? He wants to shout all these things until he’s blue in the face but in the end he just settles for kicking Liam out and scrambling as far away from him as possible, to the safety of his bedroom. He doesn’t check to see if Liam leaves.

           

When he wakes up in the morning, it’s to a blaring headache and vomit all over his shirt. He almost forgets that Liam was around last night at all, but when he checks his messages there’s a text he never sent, and a new number he definitely didn’t program into it.

“Liam…” he sighs, thumbing over the number before deleting it. The last thing he needed was to drag Liam into a shithole that was his crumbling life.

He goes to the bar again, and the funniest thing happens when he’s drunk himself into a light slumber. Liam comes in...again. Once again he’s gone against what Zayn wants, pulling him off the counter and stuffing him into his car. His limbs aren’t moving due to the alcohol, otherwise he would have knocked Liam on his ass for not leaving him alone.

Zayn grows angrier each time Liam shows up out of the blue, and voices them to him. He doesn’t hold back anymore. He’s just so tired of being there, so tired of feeling things, so tired of Liam being there to witness the worst breakdown of his entire life. He wants it to be enough for Liam to stop and let him go on with his pathetic excuse for a life, but Liam doesn’t relent.

Every morning Zayn will wake up and delete Liam’s contact, hoping that he’ll just get the fucking hint that he can’t have him here anymore. Liam being here just makes him even sadder, because he had risked everything for Liam in the first place; it was all the reasons he killed himself a little each night.

The more Liam was over, the more Zayn found himself reluctantly letting his mind wonder about him. He thinks about Lim having the opportunity to go out and live his life, but instead he’s there every night coddling Zayn like he can’t fend for himself (even if he really can’t). He thinks about all the reasons Liam shouldn’t be here: Zayn shutting him out of the hospital, falling off the face of the earth for five months, telling him to fuck off (multiple times), throwing him out of his apartment, generally ignoring everything about his presence etc. He can’t comprehend why Liam would still come back here after off of that, just to help him?

            At first he thought it was just pity. Pity that Zayn was wasting his life away. Then he figured it was because Liam wanted to settle the score with him. Zayn had saved his life, and now he felt indebted to him, and needed to save his.

But then Liam keeps bringing up how much he cares about Zayn. He doesn’t see how he would, seeing how much shit he gave him, but sometimes, when Zayn isn’t too out of it or foggy from the alcohol, he thinks he can see the warmth in Liam’s eyes for him. It might just be his mind playing tricks on him, but he starts to believe it after a while.

Zayn starts to see that maybe Liam isn’t there because he feels responsible for what Zayn has become, or that he had been a martyr. No, it’s more than that, and it makes Zayn queasy. If Liam didn’t care about him like that, he would have been long gone. He would have gotten the hint that first time outside the market. But Liam is persistent, he _knows_ this, and Liam wouldn’t be doing something without intent or purpose.

So maybe Zayn is his purpose. Maybe it’s become a necessity, like breathing. Maybe Zayn has become Liam’s air.

It doesn’t mean Zayn isn’t still mad at him, for well, everything. It’s his fault he’s alive- a fact he’s never even admitted to himself until now. Maybe one day he’ll actually be able to explain everything to Liam. Maybe then he’d finally get the hell out.

He gives up on deleting Liam’s number, since Liam just continues to put it in when he’s not looking. He thinks he’s even made a bit of progress with not only Liam but with himself, taking it upon himself to call Liam when he needs to get home instead of some bartender who doesn’t give two shits about him. It’s small, but he’s doing it for himself, something he wouldn’t have done a few weeks ago.

He stops yelling at Liam too, and recognizes that all he’s done for him has actually been so helpful and needed, though he doesn’t express it out loud. At one point, he realizes just how much everything Liam has done means to him. He understands that he needed the help, and that he’ll continue to need help if he wants to get better, and Liam has been doing it without being asked and with no complaint.

It’s amazing progress from where his mind was at weeks ago, and it’s what gives him the courage to ask Liam one night not to leave, before he passes out in his bed. When he wakes up, he fully expects Liam to have left, but the popping sounds coming from the kitchen drag him from the bed, still in the clothes he wore last night. At least he didn’t throw up on them.

He trudges to the kitchen and is shocked into silence by the sight of Liam cooking something on his stove. Liam looks positively happy and shoos Zayn off into the shower while he finishes breakfast. When he gets back, they sit down and start to dig in. Zayn wants to know why Liam is still there, even though he has a pretty good idea. When Liam answers, it only reaffirms what Zayn had in mind.

It gets a little easier, after that day. He still goes out to drink most nights, and he still calls Liam to help him home. Liam is rarely away from his side when he’s not lugging him out of the bar either; cooking him meals or washing his clothes. That is until Zayn gets that feeling of babying again, which Liam can astonishingly sense. He now asks Zayn to help him in anyway he can, which he is appreciative of.

Liam halfway moves into his flat, even though he’s still a mess. He’ll find random things that don’t belong to him thrown around, from toothbrushes to plaid shirts two sizes too big for him, and even lactose free milk because apparently Liam is lactose intolerant.

            His hands are getting better, with the body’s natural defenses, but it’s not the best. They still wear scars of that day from the grenade he couldn’t thrown far enough, and still ache from time to time. They aren’t pretty, and he doesn’t have full use of them, but he doesn’t think it’s the end of the world. Liam puts medicine on them and wraps them when he needs help, and not once has shown disgust or guilt for them.

            “It was because of you, you know,” he finally has the courage to admit one day, watching Liam massage the lotion into his hands with graceful moves. Liam doesn’t say a word, so he continues. “I thought I had it all figured out. That day in the park.” It pains him to bring it up, and if Liam notices, he doesn’t say anything. “I was going to take those bastards with me. All of them, to hell. But then…” he trails off, closing his eyes at the memory he’s tried for months to forget. “Then I remembered what you said. What I promised you. You had a hold on me and I couldn’t get those stupid brown eyes out of my head so I just… I threw it. Tossed it off and tried to get as far away as possible, but it caught my hands in the blast and well, you’ve seen them…”

It’s the most he’s ever spoken out loud about what happened that day, and he half expects Liam to run straight for the door. It comes as a surprise when muscular arms wrap around his neck and draw them to his chest. Liam breathes hot into his neck, and Zayn timidly brings his arms around to hold Liam right back. There’s a hand running up and down the length of his spine, keeping him grounded.

“It’s why I couldn’t face you at the hospital, or at the supermarket and all those times at the bar.” He continues. “Because I couldn’t stand you looking at me like I was broken.”

“God, Zayn,” Liam’s voice breaks, reluctantly sending tears to the corners of his eyes. “I’m so, so, so sorry. I mean, I’m not sorry that you’re alive but, for everything else.” He pulls back, hands cupping Zayn’s cheeks, thumbs wiping over the stray tears he let slip by. “I just care about you so much. Even out there, in the park. We depended on each other to stay alive and I,” he pauses when Zayn flinches a bit at his words. “I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if you’d have died. I think I would have died a little inside with you.”

Zayn sheds a few more tears, holding onto Liam’s hands with his own. “Liam please, tell me it’s going to be okay. Tell me we’re going to be okay.”

Liam holds his face tighter, like he never wants to let go. “I can’t say whether or not it’ll all turn out right in the end. That’s for you to decide Zayn. I’ll be here to pick up the pieces and put you back together, because it kills me to see you do this to yourself. But only you can make the decision to get better.”

Zayn nods his head. He does, oh how badly he wants to get better. He’s wanted to get better even before he started getting worse. He wants to stop drinking for himself because he knows it’s rotting away his insides, and even if it’s only been half a year, he knows the damage done to his liver is irreversible. The first trip to the E.R. for alcohol poisoning told him that much. He wants to get better for Liam too; he can’t stand to see Liam unhappy. If he’s unhappy, Zayn’s unhappy.

He promises himself that this is going to work. He needs it to. Liam already makes him very happy as it is, but he wants himself to be happier in general. He wants Liam to smile all the time; he wants him to be proud of him. He tells himself now that he’s quitting cold turkey. It’ll be hard, but it’ll make Liam proud, which means the world to Zayn; like he isn’t the world’s biggest fuck up.

“Please Liam,” he whispers, inching closer to his face, brown eyes boring into his. “I promise I’ll do it just… give me something. Something to show you’re not losing faith in me.”

Liam strokes his face, bringing their foreheads together, lips centimeters apart. “I could never lose faith in you. Whatever happens, I’ll always be here, because I-” he takes a deep breath in, and Zayn feels his insides contract. “I love you, Zayn.”

Zayn loses all control of his body, sagging into Liam. He crashes their lips together without finesse, grateful that this was one of the days he didn’t have alcohol on his breath. It’s the first time they’ve kissed since that fateful day at Jurassic Park, and Liam’s lips are better than he remembers. They slot together perfectly, and for the first time Zayn doesn’t regret it.

He doesn’t say the words back, but he could eventually, and he hopes the tangle of lips and chasing of tongues gets the message across to Liam.

           

Zayn gets better. It takes months and months of recovery, where the craving for the taste of alcohol gets so strong that he takes it out on the flat and himself. There have been broken lamps, tables, shredded glasses, and chipped plates. Liam went with him after the day he promised to stop, emptying out all the bottles of liquor he had stashed around the house. It also meant that Liam took control of all this debit cards and assets, just for the time being. Liam was hesitant at first, but Zayn had physically pushed his wallet into his hands and told him that it was okay; he didn’t want to risk falling off the wagon.

The withdrawal eats at him the first couple of months, so many times he wishes he could feel the burning sensation running down his throat. He knows how easy it would be to find something and just throw it all away, all for the sake of ridding the itch he feels every time a craving comes on. Liam sees his struggle, and does little things here and there whenever he knows Zayn is about to rip his skin off. At first it was just a small rubber band to snap around his wrist to keep his mind off the feeling. Then he came up with a game every time it happened, just to make something bad more fun. Zayn will say the first word that comes to his mind when he gets a craving, and Liam will shout a word related to it. They go back and forth until the craving passes, sometimes lasting up to a few hours.

“Cheese.” Zayn blurts one time, closing his hands around his kitchen counter.

Liam is visibly confused for a minute until he realizes what it means. “Oh, um, burger.”

“Meat.”

“Penis.”

“Liam-”

“I’m glad you think of me when you think of penis,” Liam smiles, like he hadn’t just broken a rule of the game. Zayn just blushes and shakes his head. “My word is Zayn.”

He groans. “Muslim.”

“Qu’ran.”

“Bible.”

“Cross.”

“God.”

“Dog.”

“Dog?” Zayn asks, amused.

“Yeah it’s God backwards.” Liam explains.

Zayn just laughs. He laughs unabashedly with crinkles by his eyes. And that’s when he realizes that it’s the first time he’s let himself laugh since god knows when. Liam notices it too, smile stretching from ear to ear. Suddenly, the itch under his skin is gone.

“I love you.” He whispers, fitting his his hands at Liam’s waist.

Liam’s whiskey eyes glisten in the white light. “Now Zayn, you know that we’re only supposed to say one word-”

Zayn silences him with the warmth of his lips. “I love you,” he says again. He loves that Liam cared enough to stay, and can make him smile when things are looking grey. He loves that Liam will hold him close when they go to the store or to the movies, and he loves that he doesn’t push him. He loves his smile and the way his hands feel wrapped around his waist, making him feel even lighter in his embrace. He mostly loves Liam’s stupidly beautiful eyes, the ones that are too kind and make him feel like home.

Because Liam is his home. They aren’t perfect, and he doesn’t know if he’ll heal fully, but he knows that Liam makes him want to try. And that’s all that matters, really.

           

 


	10. Epilogue part 2

Like any good mother, Anne Twist tries her best to maintain her children’s health. Physically and emotionally. Her children aren't technically children anymore, her eldest is married for god's sake, but it seems like she’s been patching up more wounds lately than she ever did when her two spawn were still in highchairs and bibs. 

There was that one incident last month when Gemma took a rather harsh and what she claims to be “the most embarrassing, pathetically executed fall,” of her life. Anne probably shouldn't feel this boastful about the fact that she was the first person her daughter had thought to call instead of, say, a doctor. She had driven down to London in a blink and the two women spent the evening in the emergency room. Anne had even gotten to hold her eldest’s hand while the doctor stitched up a gash on her profile. They’d gone for ice cream despite the late hour they’d filed out of the hospital, in an attempt on Anne’s part to cheer Gemma up. Didn’t matter if you were five or a 26 year old woman with a degree in law, ice cream would always do the trick. 

A month and a half later and Anne finds herself back at the hospital. There isn’t any self-deprecating laughter or hand holding coming from the bed this time. The injuries involved don’t require seven stitches and a prescribed ointment. Her child that lays battered and bruised on the bed isn’t Gemma.  

“Mum,” Harry’s voice croaks, shattering the silence of the sterile room. His voice sounds like it’s been run over by a truck and tossed off the side of a mountain; the word feels like gravel coming up his throat. The switch from screaming for his life to being put under and silent for 48 hours now must have shot his voice. 

“Harry,” Anne coos softly, rising from her seat to go stand next to her son. “How are you feeling, pumpkin?” 

“A bit better than last time,” he croaks. He had woken up briefly, about 20 minutes of consciousness, earlier that morning. All the drugs that were swirling in his veins caused him to be conscious but barely coherent; he had kept asking for a ‘Louis’ and if he had been ok. 

“When did you get here, is Gemma here?” 

Anne nods, swallowing around the lump in her throat. The sight of her son, her baby, like this was starting to settle in. “We flew in late last night, we got on a plane the minute the call came.” 

Harry  watches her sniffle and try to regain control over her face muscles that are trembling and trying to frown. His mother hasn’t cried much on his behalf over the years. She said she’d cried when he was born, she’d shed a few tears with him after the divorce, then there was when he had come out to her, and the latest was on his moving day to uni. Harry hates seeing her cry, she’s always been such a strong figure in his life. 

The door to his room creaks open then, light from the hall spilling in through the gap. Emerging through it is his sister, trying to look stern but the redness around her eyes giving her away. 

“Harry, what the hell were you thinking?” She asks striding to stand on the other side of his bed. 

Harry relishes in the warm familiarity of his sister’s antics. “Nice to see you too, Gems.” 

“You almost died, I would’ve killed you if you’d’ve died you know that right?” 

“I’m aware, it’s why I try to avoid dying.” Harry’s mouth pulls up into an amused smile before he can stop it. Gemma’s eyes narrow down at him, then her lip is wobbling and face crumbling. 

“Gemma, are you-” Harry can count on one hand the number of times he’s seen his older sister cry. He’s caught a bit off guard by all of it.

“I’m not crying.” She says in a voice so heavy it contradicts the words glaringly. 

A muffled sob interrupts them. The two sibling looks up to see their mother with tears streaming down her face. 

“Oh, mum.” Gemma goes to stand next to her, her own cheeks wet. Harry can feel his eyes prickling as he watches the two women in his life cry over him. He reaches out his left arm. 

“Mum, it’s ok.” He tries to console her, rubbing his thumb along her hand where he clasps it in his own free one. 

“I know, baby. I’m so happy you're safe and here, but you never deserved this.” Her shoulders wrack with a sob. Harry feels a wave of sadness, it blends with the pain that his entire body seems to be submerged in. 

He gives her a sad smile, “there’s loads of people who live like this, I’ll- I’ll be fine.” 

His words seem to calm the storm of emotions riding the three people. The room levels into a state of resignation and the three family members stand close ready to weather the next storm. 

It’s the end of that week when Harry chances asking for Louis. He’s been updated on their wellbeing, he refused to take his daily dose of medicine that day he woke until he was given information on his four friends. Relief had flooded through him upon being told Louis was alive and on a short bedrest for a couple of minorly broken ribs. 

He’s heard the nurses talking earlier about them and what happened on the island; it’s all anyone seems to be able to talk about whenever they think he’s not within earshot. 

“I’m sorry sir, we’re only letting family see you at this time. It’s hospital policy.” The nurse holding his charts states after he asks if Louis had come see him. His mum and Gemma were currently out getting something to eat. Harry insisted to them this morning to get out of the hospital for a bit. They were in Costa Rica and Harry was long gone from being in critical condition, besides, the amount of tension that would fill the room at times was nearly suffocating. 

At his lack of response the nurse continues, “But, to answer your question, he did.” 

Harry can't help the flicker of warmth that flared in his chest. It’s quickly blown out by a pang of something Harry can’t quite place. 

It’s not like he expects Louis to come running into his arms the first chance they get to see each other again. He hopes that’s how it goes, he has about a couple dozen scenarios of how their reunion could go. Being on bedrest gives him a lot of time alone with his thoughts, maybe too much time. Besides, thinking about Louis and his shimmering eyes wins over thinking about stuff that happened in the park any day. 

He sighs, staring at the blank wall before him like he has for the last few days while the nurse goes about checking his IV bag and stats. 

He doesn’t know how long he sits there staring at the wall because before he knows it the nurse is in his line of sight. 

“Mr. Styles, it seems your blood pressure is having difficulty picking up. I am going to send your status to Dr. Ramos. You have lost a lot of blood and It looks like the surgery is going to have to be rescheduled for next week.” 

Right. The surgery, he was supposed to have it tomorrow morning. When Harry was emitted into the trauma wing of the hospital the doctors had patched up his arm with no difficulty. He was given rest for a full 24 hours after they’d found the rest of him to be physically fine. His arm, though, still seemed to be a problem. A ligament had been mangled, but Harry had lost too much blood for the surgeons to cut him open again. 

He keeps trying to repress the resentment he feels himself tipping over. Not only is his limb keeping him in this room at all hours of the day that by dinner Harry’s ready to tear his hair out, but it’s also keeping him from seeing his friends. And Louis. 

When he said he spent a lot of time thinking about Louis, he really did mean a lot of time. It’s hard to be sure where they stand now, and it’s eating away at him trying to guess if Louis will even want anything to do with him. Now, he’s stuck here for probably another week and with no clue if he’ll ever see Louis again. 

He keeps finding himself digressing to that day in the park, not the terror, or the rain, or the raptors, but the cave. Where he and Louis had kissed. Harry just wants that. So much. And he knows he doesn’t have much going for him, at least not anymore, compared to Louis. Louis who is so funny and  _ loud _ , yet so kind with the biggest heart for someone so compact. Why would he want someone like Harry?

“Sir?” The nurse interrupts his fast spiral downwards.

“Sorry, I-”

“It is alright, I was just wondering if you’d like me to inform your family?” 

Harry nods, “Yes, they should be back soon.” 

He watches her give him a sympathetic look, “thank you.”

It’s a Thursday when he’s finally discharged,  his forearm wrapped in a cast and a slight gash on his side bandaged tight. He only has one more meeting with his doctor before he can get on a plane back home.

“Alright Harry, I’ve spoken with the physician you’ve chosen in England. Dr. Kamay has emailed me the dates for your appointments, the first is in a little over two weeks. Hopefully that will give you enough time to rest and allow your body to properly take in the medication.” Dr. Ramos hands Harry a small pile of papers, most are prescriptions. At the top of the pile is the list of dates for his physical therapy appointments. So far he only has three lined up.

His mum squeezes his shoulder from where she is sat next to him. She has a reassuring look on her face and he hardly feels the itch of fear building up, almost like he’s become numb to it. The minute he walks out of the hospital he will be faced with a whole different life, one he never imagined himself living. 

“Thank you so much, Dr. Ramos,” he stands and shakes her hand firmly trying to convey just how grateful he is. 

“You’re welcome, Harry. Now go on I presume you all have a plane to catch. Take care of that arm for me.” 

One corner of his lips rises and he nods. 

 

Outside it’s humid and sunny, insects buzz in the distance and the sounds of traffic reach his ears from the road to his left. The world, it seems, has kept turning and he doubts it had ever stopped. Not even when he was bleeding out underneath two clever eyes that bored into him as his own blood dripped from its mouth. 

He has two nightstands on either side of his bed in his flat in London. He’s got his lamp and digital clock on the one closest to the window and usually his laptop rests of the other one. It’s the middle of his second week back in London, and his laptop has been replaced by what resembles a mini pharmacy. He hasn’t gotten out of bed for five days now. 

The first few days he didn’t feel this discouraged and he had actually tried going through a morning routine. Waking up, showering, breakfast, and then deciding on some sort of activity that would distract him. It wasn’t enough to stop how his edges kept curling inwards until even showering seemed like too much to ask of him. He gets up for food and the bathroom and to adjust the thermostat whenever it gets too warm in the flat. It’s a constant pressure that weighs over him, he’s not the same and he can’t keep living like nothing happened. He lost a limb and he has no idea how to deal with it. 

If he can’t handle living like this for a week and a half how is he supposed to live the rest of his life? 

He just wants, needs somebody there. Harry’s never been too good at being on his own, always needing to be surrounded by people. Everyone he thought would come rushing to his bedside have instead sent their condolences through imessage. There’s only one message he’s really waiting for, and even though he knows it’s not possible due to the fact Louis doesn’t actually have his number, he still hopes and winds up checking his phone every other episode of Great British Bake Off. 

A part of him is missing, quite literally. He left that feeling from the cave back in the park along with his mangled hand. And just like his hand, he’s afraid there’s no way to salvage it. 

“Good morning, welcome to Putney Clinic.”

“Morning, um. I have an appointment with Dr. Kamay for 9:30,” Harry clears his throat after the statement, nervously looking around the lobby. His mum stands next to him, a comforting presence to his left. 

The receptionist looks up, “Right, Harry Styles. You’re that guy who was in Jurassic Park, I can’t belie-” 

“What floor is Dr. Kamay’s office in?” His heart rate picks up as he watches the receptionist’s eyebrows shoot up and mouth flounder like a fish. Harry can feel the prickling in the corners of his eyes and he suddenly wishes to be back in bed, under the covers and not having to dodge invasive people. 

Harry’s fake grimace falls when he sees her look down at where his arms sit by his sides. He wants to pull his sweater sleeve even lower until there’s not even a small indication that the limb that should be there isn’t. When the receptionist looks up again she has sympathy and, worst of all, pity filling her eyes. He wants to throw the folder he’s got with him at her and storm out, instead he clenches his jaw and tries not to scream.

“Is there any way you could tell us where Dr. Kamay’s office is? We don't want to be late,” Anne speaks the words briskly. 

“Third floor, 323,” she says in a small voice, sensing his burst of hostility. 

“Thank you,” he steps away from the desk and turns on his heels in the direction of the elevators. He’s shaking by the time the elevator door slides shut before him, trying to focus on where his mum’s rubbing small circles into his shoulder. 

Dr. Kamay’s office isn’t too hard to find and it seems he’s the only appointment for the morning, the waiting room is vacant and painted in a washed out green. He walks up to the window and is handed a clipboard after stating his name. It’s mostly standard paperwork since this is his first visit with the clinic. 

It’s the last page that stumps him. It’s similar to the others with how it asks for his signature and printed name at the end. Before it, though, is a list of questions with a pair of check boxes next to each. Questions like:  _ Do you have difficulty falling asleep at night?, Do you often feel like life is not worth living?, Do you have trouble concentrating?, Have you lost interest in things you used to enjoy?,  _ and _ Have you ever had suicidal thoughts?  _

Harry glances up at the woman in scrubs sitting behind the window, she’s focused on the monitor in front of her not paying him any mind. Anne sits next to him with the pen in her hand, squinting at the paper. 

“Um,” he reaches out and takes the pen from his mother, his left hand wrapping around it loosely. It feels foreign beneath his palm. 

It’s not that hard marking x’s in a straight line down through the row of ‘no’ boxes. He recreates a sloppy version of his signature and then hands the clipboard off to his mum so she can finish writing the date in. He grits his teeth and tries not to think about how he just lied to his doctor. 

He really tries to keep up with the words coming out of Dr. Kamay’s mouth, he does. He’s nice enough, a man in his forties with thick glasses lining his aged brown eyes. The office gives off a more comfortable feel than what he had expected. He assumed there would be cold chairs and clinical posters all around. Instead there’s a large sofa that sits in front of a mahogany desk that reminds him of the one his father had in the house they’d lived in before his parents split. There is a small scattering of certificates and degrees on the wall nearest to Dr. Kamay’s desk, along with framed pictures of what he assumes to be the doctor’s family. Two smiling girls make an appearance in more than one of the frames. The only indication that this is a physician’s office is the tall bed that stands in a corner of the room, and what resemble gym equipment lie around it in an organized fashion. 

So, he’s really trying to take in what Dr. Kamay is explaining to him. About his treatment and options. It’s hard, and he knows his mum’s going to remember it all and he doesn’t feel like absorbing any more information right now. 

_ Do you have trouble concentrating? _

It’s all become weirdly real now, like the last two weeks he had been living in some sort of bubble where he didn’t exist, where his scars didn’t exist. But now, it feels like opening a window during a storm, or having a secret be told to someone who isn’t trustworthy. 

There’s no longer a way to conceal it, Harry can’t pretend it only exists behind a glass. 

The appointment ends and he follows his mum out of the room, looking forward but not really seeing anything. It’s why he doesn’t realize he’s bumped into someone until that person is pulling back and holding him at arm's length.

“Harry?”

His stomach drops. 

“Liam.” 

The man smiles up at him like he almost thought Harry wouldn’t remember who he was. God, it feels so good to see him. He’s not alone in this, he tells himself. Liam and the others were there too they lived through the same things he did, he’s not the only survivor. Before Liam can say anything Harry’s striding a step forward and tucking his chin over his friend’s shoulder, his left arm wrapping around side. 

“Hey, mate,” Liam says softly while he pats lightly on Harry’s back. It’s one of the most comforting gestures he’s ever received. 

And then Liam’s pulling away, rather abruptly if Harry does say so. Hurt flashes through his eyes as he watches Liam stutter an apology. 

He’s about to ask him if he’s ok when Liam turns to face his mum.

“Hello, I’m Liam, you must be Harry’s mum.” Liam extends a hand out to her, his usual friendly self taking over. “It’s so nice to meet you.” 

“Anne.” His mother replies with an easy grin on her face. She shakes Liam’s hand delicately like she’s scared he’ll break. It’s the same treatment Harry’s been receiving from her ever since he’s gotten back. 

“What are you doing here?” He questions quietly. He wants to ask how badly Liam was injured but he doesn’t know if he would be able to get the words out.

“Oh, um. I’m having some pain in my back and Lou told me to come down here for a check up.” 

Harry’s mind short circuits at the mention of Louis. He can’t just ask outright ask about Louis, no matter how much he wants to. He’s got to somehow slip it in casually. Somehow.

“Does Louis go here too?” Harry asks, casually. 

Liam fidgets under his gaze, his eyes flicking up to meet Harry’s and then to the side. “Uh, well. He did, that’s why he was so adamant that I come here too.” 

Harry nods, trying to tame his heart. For the last few days, which turned into weeks, Louis has been his heart’s and mind’s (probably his whole being’s) favorite subject.

He doesn’t realize he’s been tuning out what Liam was saying until his brain catches up.

“-but he’s not in London.” 

What. Wait. Was Liam still talking about Louis? He must sense the waves of shock building up in Harry, or at least notice how his eyes widen at the statement. 

“At the moment.”

Harry exhales. At the moment. That means Louis is probably, hopefully going to return. Harry wants to ask where he is and Liam looks like he wants to tell him, but neither of the two say a thing. 

“But he’s, um. He’s good, yeah?”

“Yeah he’s good. Better than I’d expected,” Liam replies hastily, like he isn’t meant to be speaking of this.

“Oh, okay. That’s um, that’s good then.”

The conversation feels as if it’s coming to a close, and Harry finds himself not wanting it to. He’d rather it not, so he could stay with Liam and they could talk (about Louis). And maybe he won’t feel so alone anymore. 

Instead, Liam says that he should probably go in for his appointment and Anne replies that he should and they wouldn’t keep him any longer. They say their goodbyes and Harry gives him another hug. He watches Liam head towards Dr. Kamay’s office and right before his friend opens the door, Harry calls out. 

“Hey, Liam?” He clears his throat and wait for the man to turn before continuing. 

“Do you think I could maybe have your number? You know, in case you ever wanted to talk or. I don’t know carpool...to the clinic?”

Liam’s smiling by the time Harry gets through talking, he looks like he’s going to say yes when his face falls and he’s glancing at the waiting room’s window. Harry furrows his eyebrows confused, and hurt, and not understanding why Liam’s acting like he’s being watched. 

The man strides forward so he can say the next thing quietly, “I don’t think that’ll be the best idea. At least not until the trial ends, after that then sur-” 

“What?” 

“I said, I don’t think that’ll be the best idea because-”

“No I heard you. I’m just. What do you mean by the trial?” 

Liam leans back to look at him quizzically. “You didn’t hear about the trial?” 

After Harry shakes his head slowly, Liam continues, “Well Twist, err your grandad is being sued, by a whole lot of people. And um, we’ve all been asked to testify our version of events.”

Harry turns to ask his mother if she knew about the trial but she’s one step ahead. “They notified us last week, Harry. Remember the letter I read you?” 

Thinking back on it, Harry does recall being read something about lawsuits and testimonies. But, the season five finale of GBBO was on and Harry hadn’t paid much attention, if he’s honest. 

“Right.” He turns back to Liam, “but what does that have to do with this?”

“Oh! The council asked we not have contact with each other. Us and the other guys. They don’t want our stories to be influenced or anything, I think.” 

That made sense. But despite that he couldn’t help the disappointment that settled in his stomach. He had really been looking forward to having someone to talk to and now that’s forbidden. Harry frowns.

“Oh, ok. Well, once the trial’s over then?” 

“Once the trial’s over.” Liam nods at him his face bright once more. 

After the first appointment Harry begins to look at things a bit differently. Dr. Kamay had given him a set of exercises to do every morning, and a schedule of what times he should be taking his pills and along with what foods. The exercises would stimulate the rest of his arm that had been operated on and add to recovery, he had said it would also make Harry’s transition to a prosthetic easier if he were decide he wanted one. Which he assured was still further down the road when Harry’s face had gone pale. So the arm exercises aren’t that difficult to handle if he does them early in the morning, he has to bend his elbow for three reps of five and then raise his arm above his head for five reps of three. The medicine on the other hand, Harry just finds tedious. It isn’t as difficult to manage as he anticipated though, once Harry realizes that most of his time is spent at home with not much to do other than wait for his next meal and pill to take. 

He doesn’t live in complete boredom, either. He’s moved on from staring at blank walls for four hours. He tries to go out more; his mum says it’ll do him some good to be around people. Yet the only person he wants to be around isn’t reachable. 

He goes grocery shopping, in long sleeves despite the rising temperature outside. Turns out grocery shopping  _ is _ totally possible with only one hand. Walking in, Harry is almost always intimidated by the trolleys and his legs know by now to carry him toward the plastic baskets. He’s only shopping for one after all. 

He carries the basket until he’s in an empty aisle and then he swaps it onto his right arm, bending it so the basket can hang from the bend of his elbow, he places his folded up large reusable grocery tote in it and then begins. He ends up clutching the end of his arm to his chest whenever he’s not reaching for an item. Check out usually goes smoothly and Harry walks out with his tote perched on his left shoulder as he treks his way back to the flat. 

Cooking, using the bathroom, dressing, cleaning, showering, even attending to the orchids on his balcony, it’s all still possible. More time consuming, yes, but possible nonetheless. Life goes on and all that. 

It’s not easy, far from it. But Harry manages and he goes about the routine he’s set for himself. He has a few episodes though where things he used to be able to do without a second thought become a challenge. And Harry sometimes has to lay down and cry into his pillow for a while before he’s wiping away his tears and turning on the TV to watch medical dramas. 

The latest incident had been two days ago when he decided to take advantage of how the hot weather was already making him sweat to do some yoga. Just a few leg stretches so they could get some blood flow, he’d spent all of the day before fucking around on his laptop, not moving from the sofa unless it was for food. 

He hadn’t given much thought to his hair, it had been getting longer sure, but that hadn’t been a problem with Harry. At least not until that day. After yoga he was pretty much dripping with sweat, his shirt soaked all the way down his neckline and back. He smelled rank. He pulled off his shirt and went to the kitchen sink to splash water on his face. He gulped down a glass of water and waited for his body temperature to regulate. But the flat was too hot, the blazing gaze of sunlight streaming in through his curtains and making the tiles warm to the touch. 

He scratched at his back as a drop of sweat slid down the skin. Harry decided a shower would probably be a good idea. 

He knew standing under a warm spray would help his legs after their workout, but his body temperature just wasn’t agreeing so he set the handle to the middle of the cold section and stepped under the spray. He showered thoroughly and then stepped out onto the cool tiled floor, drying off and changing into a pair of briefs and a white vest. His hair dampened the back of it immediately. 

He settled down on his trusty couch with a plate of grapes and netflix. At some point after that he must have dozed off, long enough for the sun to move until it was casting its scorching glow directly on Harry’s sleeping form. 

He woke up from his nap drenched. Harry assumed it was from his earlier shower until he realized the sun was already setting and Harry had shower in the early afternoon. He recognized the uncomfortable feeling on sticky heat that seemed to have wrapped around his whole body, and as Harry sat up he felt it all around the air. Summers in London really seem to have no sense of mercy. He groaned into the empty flat and then reached his arms back to pull his hair up into a bun. When his left hand bumped into the skin at the end of his right arm he gasped and pulled the arm to his chest. It wasn’t the first time he’d absentmindedly forgotten. 

His chest heaved at the slight panic coursing through his body. He inhaled shakily before moving his left hand back to the task. He slipped the hair tie off his wrist using his fingers and then hung on a couple of his fingers. Collecting most of his hair into his palm was easy, the next step was what challenged him a bit. It was times like this he realized how many actions and movements he’d taken for granted. There were people out there in far worse conditions, Harry is lucky to have the rest of his arm at all. 

He sighed at the sad tug the thoughts elicit from him. Wrapping his hair around itself, Harry piled it onto the top of his head. He had no idea how to go about actually getting the hair tie onto his hair. He made a disgruntled noise and then decided to just give it his best go. 

It didn’t work. The band ended up snapping against his fingers and most of the hair ended up falling out while only a sad bunch actually made it into the hair tie. He tried again. 

And again, and again, and even once more just in case it would be a fifth time’s the charm situation. It wasn’t, and Harry’s hair was still lying limply on his shoulders. His fingers were cramping and the back of his neck was still wet, and Harry didn’t want to try any longer. To his horror, a lump had lodged itself at the back of his throat and Harry could feel the corner of his eyes prickle. He had just wanted to put his hair into a bun, it really wasn’t much to ask for. 

 

And now he’s crying over said bun, and his tears were too warm on his already overheated skin. Harry wanted to scream. 

Instead he ended up calling Gemma, still crying, and asking that she please come over. She was there in less than ten minutes knocking furiously at his door, she looked shaken up when Harry had answered. 

“What’s wrong?” She immediately walked in and began checking all over Harry for any injuries. That had only made Harry start crying all over again. He’d worried his sister had made her trek across town just because he couldn’t get his hair up. God.

“It’s really hot, and I can’t put my hair up.” Harry answered her in a small voice, feeling a bit ridiculous. “I tried to, but pieces kept falling out and I was sweating, and just tried so much. Will you do it?”

Gemma’s face visibly relaxed, “Oh, Harry. You got me so scared I was just about to phone mum.”

Guilt plummeted down Harry’s stomach, “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s alright, H. You’re alright.” She walked over and rubbed up and down his arms comfortingly. “Let’s get that hair out of your way, yeah? Go sit.” 

He does have his moments, where he thinks he can still do things like before. It’s hard to break certain habits after doing them for long after all. Dr. Kamay has told him to take it slow, step by step, not to push himself too far. And Harry’s learning how to ask for help when he needs it, and when to let something go when he knows it won’t be a task done that day. He’s adjusting. 

Eventually it will get easier, he’s reassured of this every day by his family and doctor. Harry believes them and he believes in his own ability to make sure he comes out of this time in his life alive. 

Five months. The trial lasts for five months. Harry didn’t think what had happen should have been put up for discussion. Because people had died, it shouldn’t have been a matter that had been tossed up in the air so anyone could grab a hold of it. 

His grandfather had fought back hard, investing in the best lawyer money could buy and actually tried to argue his way out of the lawsuit. He had brought to the court that there’d been a hack by one of his own employees who actually worked for an animal rights group run by renowned activist Irving Azoff. Azoff declined to testify but denied the allegations accordingly. Since there was no proof except for the testimonies by Twist and a few other workers, and considering the proof was exiled on the island with no one daring to go retrieve it, the court overruled the allegations, and Azoff got off scotch free.

In the first hearing, Harry had thought it was obvious which way the coin would land. His grandfather would be sued for all his worth and the victims would have the security of making sure the events lived on as lesson learned. Instead his grandfather had issued a settlement and some families of the deceased began to second guess their stances. The settlement was hardly half of what Harry knew his grandfather’s net worth was. 

If everyone had made a unanimous vote to settle that day, the trial would have been over. But that never happened because the vote was far from unanimous, employees and family members refused to give his grandad an out. They wanted to make sure all his resources were taken from him so he could never invest in another project like that again. Despite being related to him, Harry could hardly feel any sympathy. Especially after witnessing the pain of the families and his fellow survivors. 

Perrie Edwards had been one of the first to speak out against it when the settlement had first been declared. Others had followed her lead in convincing everyone that it wouldn’t grant them justice. A week later, the votes were cast and the result was unanimous. The survivors and victims of the Jurassic Park enclosure malfunction had agreed to continue the investigation and not settle. 

The weeks, turned months, that followed were anything but smooth sailing. New information would crop up almost every day and testimonies tooks days to go over. 

The worst part of it all was that Harry was in the same room as Louis and couldn’t even stand near him. It was awful. 

The only other setting Harry seemed to be able to have during those weeks other than being utterly miserable was a state of complete awareness of Louis. Where he was in the room, how he was standing, what he was saying, who he was saying it to. Harry just liked to focus on him. 

He was terrified, so scared that the first time they’d see each other Louis would just brush him off or ignore him. Instead it was one of the scenarios he’d made up in his head coming to life. There was a lack of jumping into arms and snogging. But the blinding smile Louis had given him from across the room when he’d entered the courtroom for the first time was enough to reassure Harry. 

Now though, Harry’s not quite sure. The trial’s over now, six months after the event. It officially ended little more than ten minutes ago. Edward Twist is being sued for the largest sum to ever see a courthouse. 

His grandfather has asked to see him later today, but Harry hasn’t confirmed if he’ll be there. He doesn’t think he can, at least not for a while. Not when the scar at the end of his right arm is still healing.

It’s different seeing Louis up close rather than from across a courtroom. Harry is entering the bathroom when the sight before him makes him stop dead in his tracks. Louis Tomlinson is at the sink washing his hands, and Harry is still standing like a statue near the door like he’s watching a ghost. It almost feels like he is. He can see Louis’ face through the mirror in front of him, but the man is looking down at hasn’t seemed to notice he isn’t alone.

The water turns off and Harry almost jumps back to hide in one of the stalls. He’s apparently still not capable of moving his body so he stands there still staring with his mouth slightly parted. Louis looks up into the mirror and his eyes widen when he sees who’s behind him. 

“Harry,” it’s only a whisper but the effect is instantaneous. Harry lets out a ragged breath as warmth runs through him all the way down to his toes. 

“What are doing standing all the way over there?” Louis turns to face him, a shy smile gracing his face after he says it. 

Harry’s legs feel sluggish as he walks forward. He moves unsurely, it’s like his mind can’t distinguish between fantasy and reality. Harry wants to throw all caution to the wind and crash into Louis like he’s wanted to, like he’s dreamed of doing for five months now. But he can’t. He doesn’t know if Louis would let him, or if he wants him to. 

And Louis looks the same. Nothing physically different that Harry had noticed, he’s fully healed externally. Up close and under the dingy bathroom of the restroom it’s not the same story. Harry can see the deep circles under his eyes, the line of stubble under his chin like he hadn’t pulled the razor all the way down, his hair is longer than before. 

Louis meets him in the middle and Harry feels as if his legs are going to collapse with the way Louis’ looking at him. They’re standing an arm's length apart. Just staring, taking each other in. 

“How have you been?” Harry breathes and effectively breaking them from their trances.

Louis’ blue eyes flicker up to his, bright as ever and framed by the longest lashes Harry’s ever seen. “I’ve been good. Good. Adjusting.” 

Harry nods solemnly, he understands. Beyond understands. 

“How have  _ you _ been?” Louis starts at the same time Harry says,

“I missed you.” His eyes widen, not knowing how the words tumbled out without his consent. 

Louis’ eyes soften, “Harry,” he says it softly as if he’s afraid any louder would ruin the moment they’d built up for themselves. The next thing he knows he’s being gathered up and pulled into Louis’ chest. Harry wraps his left arm around the shorter man’s shoulder, stooping down so he can tuck his head into Louis’ neck. His right arm stays limp by his side.

“We’re allowed to talk now.”

“Yes, that we are,” Louis speaks into his hair, sending a small shiver down his back. 

Harry closes his eyes and lets himself feel for the first time in months. It’s like a flood that blooms throughout him, this feeling of finding the place you’ve been searching for. It’s like a mash up of hearing your old favorite songs and getting off a plane to a new destination. It’s exhilarating and Harry doesn’t think he’ll be able to stop from here. For just this moment he forgets about his wounds and how they can’t seem to heal fast enough. 

Harry thinks they’ll just pick up from where they left off after that. And give it a few weeks and he could be asking Louis go out with him, properly. Harry’s so ready to leave Jurassic Park behind him and continue with his life, all the pieces are here he just needs to start assembling them. 

His plans don’t exactly pan out that way in the next few weeks. 

He and Louis text, and they talk on the phone, they even snapchat. But that's about all they can do. It seems that even after six months since the events on the island it’s still the only thing the world wants to talk about. The hype had died down sometime during the lengthy trial, but since the sentence had been, well sentenced and the trial had closed for good the number of times Jurassic Park is mentioned in the media has only surged. And somehow Louis found himself under the spotlight of it. All sorts of news stations and magazines want a word from him. Harry’s been on the receiving end of many calls that mostly consist of Louis complaining about how People magazine won’t leave him alone. 

Harry listens because he’s a good friend. No one has really tried to get Harry to talk about his experience on the island, but then again Louis had been a household name (at least in England) before the park. 

He doesn’t think he’d have much to say about the matter anyway. 

Harry would much rather talk about other things, to a certain person. Who goes by Louis Tomlinson. He can’t tell if their current situation is better or worse than it was when they couldn’t even acknowledge each other while in the same room. Because now he knows what it’s like to be in Louis’ presence when their lives aren’t being threatened by escaped dinosaurs. 

He’s just so much more than what Harry knew him to be. He’s still so funny, and he has a huge personality. On the phone he talks as if he’s standing right in front of Harry, teasing him and joking around and telling him stories about who he’s encountered that day and how many times he got stopped on the street. Whenever someone asks him if he was that guy from Jurassic Park his answer is always, “No, that guy lost his arm and I clearly still have mine.” 

Most importantly he doesn’t treat Harry like he’s a bomb ready to go off at any given time. 

They’re facetiming and Harry’s sitting in front of the TV eating cereal while listening to Louis talk at the same time. 

“And then she asked for a picture, like I was some kind of boyband member or something.” 

“uhuh”

“Curly, are you even listening?” Louis asks, squinting at him. That’s something else new, the nicknames, Louis’ got a whole plethora of them. 

“Why, of course, Dr. Tomlinson.” Harry replies, grinning at the eyeroll he receives. Milk dribbles down his chin. 

“Gross,” Louis pretends to gag and leans back away from the camera.  _ Come back _ , Harry thinks immediately missing how blue Louis’ eyes had looked. “And enough of that doctor stuff, I thought we went over this.”

“But it’s so seeexxyyy,” Harry laughs softly, and pulls his Ipad close to his face so the only thing Louis can see on his end is Harry’s wide grin. 

“Oi, you doof. I don’t want to see your half chewed food.” 

Harry throws his head back laughing and then places the Ipad back where it was on the edge of his bed. “Did you miss my face?” 

“Never,” Louis replies, not missing a beat. “Anyway I just want to know what world we live in that people are asking to take selfies with dinosaur attack survivors.” 

Harry raises an eyebrow, “technically you weren’t attacked by a dinosaur.” 

“I was too. Just because I didn’t lose a limb doesn’t mean no dinosaurs had tried to get a piece of me. Therefore they attacked me, and I survived.” 

Harry looks at him unimpressed. 

“Making me a certified dinosaur attack survivor.” He finishes, looking quite proud of himself. Harry wants to kiss him so badly, but he’d end up kissing the screen if he tried. 

“At least I’ve got the scar to tell the story.” Harry shoots back. They make an unhealthy amount of jokes about what happened to them, it’s most likely not helping them psychologically. But, it’s just easier to laugh than actually deal with any of it. Harry deals with it a lot, thanks. When he’s alone, at night, in his bed, unable to fall asleep lest he make an appearance in the cycle of nightmares he finds himself having. So, he does deal with it, just not with Louis. 

_ Do you have difficulty falling asleep at night?  _

_ “ _ Were you always this unbearable?” Louis’ voice interrupts his thoughts. The man on his screen fixes the beanie he has placed on his head, Harry shouldn’t find it as endearing as he does. 

“I only save the best for you, love.” Harry shoots him an exaggerated wink. It causes Louis to crack up and drop his head into his hands. This is it, this is the peak of Harry’s life. Making Louis Tomlinson laugh was his only ambition in life and now he’s achieved it, scratch that- he  _ achieves  _ it, quite regularly. 

“God, you’re awful.” Louis says into his hands, his voice muffled and almost unintelligible.

“Awfully good looking.” 

“Stop, stop,” Louis groans. He picks his head back up, looking deliciously rumpled. It makes Harry want to shrink him and carry him around on his shoulder all day. “I’ve had enough of this for one day, Harold.” 

Harry just grins, glowing with how Louis’ jabs at him make him feel. He finds himself, not for the first time today, wishing Louis was here. Then his flat wouldn’t feel so cold. 

“I’m knackered, babe,” to prove his point a yawn bubbles up and his eyes are clenching shut as a hand comes up to conceal his stretching mouth. “I reckon you should get some sleep as well.” 

Louis’ right. Harry really should, he hadn’t slept a blink last night and spent the day running off four coffees. Harry glances at the bottle of Nyquil he placed next to the TV, he guesses it’ll be one of those nights tonight. 

“Goodnight, Lou,” Harry sighs softly watching Louis watch him. He traces his eyes over the man’s features, wanting to memorise them until they see each other again, hopefully not through a phone screen next time. 

“Night, H.” Louis smiles at him, his eyes already drooping. “Sweet dreams.”

He hasn’t told anyone about his nightmares, Harry rather just leave them in the land of dreams where they belong and nowhere near his reality. 

“Yeah, sweet dreams.” They give each other ten more seconds to just watch each other before Harry’s screen goes black and the words ‘Call Ended’ flash on it instead. 

Harry has more good days than bad it seems. Or at least he has more continuous good days than bad ones. 

He has a lot to distract him and he’s worked himself away from staying in bed without showering. He spends most of his days at work now, his mom had thought it would do him good to get a job. Anne had ignored Harry’s insistion that he shouldn’t have to work again because he’s technically disabled and can live off funds from both his small trust fund and what he gets from a disability pay. But the more Harry had mulled it over in his mind, the more the idea had grown on him. So he sent out applications to labs that weren’t too far from his house. Commute was always tricky in London and Harry didn’t think he’d be able to deal with so many people around him and his limbless dilemma just yet. He didn’t think anyone would hire him with said dilemma, and for the most part he was right. 

Until the internship program at the lab nearest to his place accepted his application. Harry might have screamed into his pillow and then immediately phoned Louis to tell him the news. He was so happy that day, at the prospect of being the source behind his life’s progression. He was making things happen. 

Today, though, it’s raining. One of those glum, dark grey skies loom over the entire city. A chillness encases every corner of Harry’s flat. He woke to a rattling window and flashes of lighting on the other side of the glass. He was barely up when the boom of thunder shook the sleep right out of him. 

Harry pulls the sheets closer to his body, so only his nose up is exposed. With how dark it is, Harry can barely tell if it’s still 3 am and he’d only slept for fifteen minutes, or if the day is already in full swing and it’s closer to noon. He feels the way the sky looks today, can already feel the sadness seeping into his veins and making its way towards his heart. He hates the way it makes him feel, so heavy and lethargic he can’t think or feel a thing. He becomes so numb he doesn’t understand how he continues to stand on two feet, he can’t comprehend why his lungs continue to expand with each breath he takes when he can’t even feel it. 

_ Do you ever feel like life is not worth living? _

He knows there’s no way he’s making it out of bed today, and with that he’s closing his eyes and praying for a dreamless sleep. His hands clench tightly at his sheets whenever a clap of thunder resounds in his room, even while unconscious he wears the fear visibly on his tense features. While he sleeps his phone goes off on a rampage where it lays on his left nightstand. A build up of text messages take over his lock screen, those turn into missed calls, which turn into four voicemails and one last text lights up his silent phone containing three simple words.  _ I’m coming over. _

The next time Harry wakes up it’s no longer raining. Outside it’s still dark and the wind keeps howling through the corners of his sealed windows. His mind is slowly rising from the state of sleep and into wakeful reality. During this is when he hears the knocking. 

Harry’s eyes fly open, his heart rate picks up while his brain tries to catch up and he starts to really take in his surroundings. He’s in his flat, in bed not in the middle of the jungle being thrown to the damp ground. 

He sits up and rubs the sleep out of his eyes, pushing the covers to one side and shivering when the cold hits his sleep warm skin. The knocking continues. Harry tries to think back if he had anyone coming over today. His mum isn’t due back in London for his next appointment for another week. He’s going to be meeting with his prosthetist for the first time. 

Exiting the room, he maneuvers himself around his dark flat. It’s freezing cold and Harry wonders if the thermostat might have been powered off due to the rain. He reaches for a fleece throw that sits on his sofa when he crosses the living room. He wraps it around his shoulders and continues his trek to the front door. 

Right as he reaches the door, standing two feet away from it, there’s a succession of three knocks.

“Harry, if you’re in there, please open the door.”

Harry’s hand freezes where it’s raised half way towards the handle. The voice from the other side of the door continues,

“It’s Louis. A very worried Louis. Harry if you could jus-”

He swings the door open to reveal the person Harry had least expected to be standing on his doorstep. Bundled up in a windbreaker and beanie Louis looks at him with wide eyes that close shut as he sighs in relief. 

“Louis?” Harry hears himself say, “what are you doing here?” 

He doesn’t mean for it to sound as accusatory as it did, he’s just so confused. They hadn’t exactly seen each other in the physical form since the trial ended. 

Louis gives him a pained expression, “have you checked your phone, at all?” 

The only use his phone has these days is to talk to Louis, but Harry had assumed the man would think he was just at the lab if he didn’t answer for a day. He shakes his head slowly.

“Right. Well, I texted you this morning to see if you wanted to do something, because I remembered you said you had a day off today because of that freak accident with the sawgrass right?”

Harry nods, mouth parting slightly shocked that Louis had actually remembered.

“And we haven’t actually seen each other much so I just thought you’d maybe want to. And I had this big conversation with myself about- about things. But you still weren’t answering so I kind of panicked and called your work and they told me the lab was indeed closed for the day.”

Harry’s eyebrows shoot up at that. He probably looks a mess right now. His hair all twisted into some sort of sleep muddled bird’s nest, there’s mostly likely still pillow creases running along his cheek. 

“So I got your address from Niall and now I’m here,” he finishes with a deep exhale. Harry just looks at him, the high flush in his cheeks flames bright pink. He can’t tell if it’s from the harsh winds outside or embarrassment. Louis’ hair is going in a hundred different directions, and upon further inspection Harry notices a twig caught between the strands on the side of his head. Without thinking, a laugh bubbles up Harry’s throat. 

Louis’ expression goes horrified, and Harry immediately opens his mouth to apologize. 

“Sorry, sorry. It’s just you’ve got a twig in you hair,” he says as he reaches out and pulls the offending branch out, only tugging on Louis’ scalp a little. “Um, I was sleeping. That’s why I didn’t answer my phone.” 

Louis blinks at him, the corners of his lips twitching upwards. His shoulders shake with silent laughter and then his face falls just as quickly. He tilts his head and looks at Harry quizzically, “It’s three in the afternoon.”

Harry isn’t sure how to respond. “Do you want to come in?” 

He opens the door wider and steps back to let Louis in. Harry leads them into the kitchen, offering Louis something to drink. 

“Tea would be fine, yeah.” 

Harry nods and sets about the task, right arm folding to its regular place against his chest. They’re both silent as Harry fill the kettle with water and places it on the stove. He doesn’t know why he feels unsettled, it’s probably still the rain Harry assumes. It might also be how Louis has entered his- space. The space where Harry has learned to live without a limb. Louis hasn’t spent a lot of time around him like this, and Harry can sense how the man’s watching him. He probably doesn’t think of me the same, Harry thinks as he reaches for a mug. 

“You’ve got a nice place here, Styles.” Louis breaks the tense silence. Harry turns to see him smiling softly as he looks around the room before his eyes finally land on Harry. 

It all feels wrong, and Harry gets the sense that he’s fucked something up. He’s the reason everything’s suddenly gone awkward. The rain has thrown him off his axis and now he’s desperate for anything he can grab onto find his footing. 

“Thanks,” he replies not looking directly at the man sitting at his breakfast nook. Louis looks way too comfortable there, and it makes a warm flutter bloom in his stomach that Harry resolutely stomps on to put out.  

He thinks he should be feeling more energetic and  _ happy _ that Louis’ finally here. That he can finally have Louis to himself and they can joke and laugh and be with each other. Instead he feels lethargic and ready for another round of sleep. Louis looks the complete opposite, if the jiggling of his leg is anything to go by. He looks about ready to shoot off into the sky. 

Harry pulls at his lips before making his decision and goes to sit in front of him. He clears his throat, stalling, gathering his thoughts. Something about the way Louis’ eyes look under the lighting making him want to just spill everything he’s been feeling lately. Louis gives him a thoughtful look like he knows Harry’s going to say something important.

“I haven't been sleeping well, that’s why I slept through your calls.” He looks down before continuing, “I have um these dreams, well. They’re more like nightmares, really.” 

He shrugs and keeps his gaze down, pulling his right arm so close to his stomach it almost hurts. The silence stretches for a good minute, and Harry’s afraid he’s said the wrong thing when he hears Louis sigh deeply. 

“Me too.”

Harry’s gaze flickers up at that. Louis’ looking at him, his eyes guarded as they bore into his. It’s not until Louis has started talking that Harry realizes it’s the same look he has when he’s standing shirtless in front of the mirror, checking to see if his scar is healing. 

“The rain, it makes it worse doesn’t it?” 

Harry’s heart pangs, a different sort of hurt pulling at his heartstrings. He doesn’t want Louis to feel like he does, the hopelessness and anger, the overwhelming sadness that engulfs him. Harry nods stiffly, swallowing.

He didn’t plan on crying in front of Louis any time soon, but lately anything has been setting him off. Literally anything, and he assumes crying over this is far more justifiable than crying over a character death in the current show he’s been binge watching. Louis catches sight of how Harry’s eyes well up. His voice is heavy when he speaks,

“It was raining that whole day.” He clutches his right arm tighter, his knuckles white. “We could hardly see three feet in front of us, Lou.” 

Louis’ leg stops moving, his inhale audible in the quiet room. “I’ve been running around all day, after you didn’t answer the first few calls I went to the grocers. And then there was a hardware shop next to it, so I bought,” he looks up at the ceiling, “tile restoration supplies.”

“What?” Harry looks at him, not sure if he missed something.

“Yeah, and then uh. I went to the post. Mailed me nan a letter, I’m sure she’ll appreciate that. There was one of those makeup stores nearby, Sephora? Got some birthday shopping done.” Louis coughs into his fist and then fixes the front of his fringe, “‘cept my sisters don’t have any birthdays for some three months. give or take. But you know, always good to be prepared, right?”

Harry blinks twice and nods, “right.” 

Louis laughs at his beyond confused expression. It’s not one of Louis’ real laughs though, Harry notices. 

“The point is, Harry, that I’ve been trying to keep myself busy all day. Just so I’m not left alone for even a second with my thoughts, so I don’t have any random flashbacks when there’s a flash of lightning outside the post office.”

His voice is soft while he speaks, like he’s telling Harry a secret. Harry’s wet lashes feel heavy as he watches Louis talk. It’s an entirely different side to him that he’s never met. Something shifts in his chest.

“We deal with it differently,” Harry observes, “there’s just not much dealing happening though.” 

Louis hums in agreement, “What are we gonna do with ourselves, Harry? We have to get over this, in a healthy way.” 

“Gems told me that I had to talk to someone about it,” Harry says remember the lunch date they’d had last week. The flow of their conversation had been too heavy for Harry’s liking, especially when he was trying to discuss the pros and cons of painting his living room. Gemma wasn’t even trying to entertain him a little. “A therapist doesn’t feel natural for me, though.”

“Me neither,” Louis leans back in his seat.

They stare at each other. The lump in Harry’s throat has started lessening and he doesn’t feel like he’s on the verge of a breakdown anymore. The sadness is still buzzing under his skin but he’s assimilating to the feeling. He can see the exact moment Louis thinks of what passed through Harry’s mind seconds before. Harry beats him to it. 

“We could maybe help each other, we could uhm talk to each other.” His words are slow despite the brighter look in Louis’ eyes and how he starts nodding before Harry’s even done. 

It’s a lot to ask, he knows. They’re basically agreeing to be each other’s rock. To be the person who holds the other when they’re wracking with sobs, or to supply the pillow when anger builds up and they just need to hit something. To listen for however long necessary until the person has talked themselves dry. It’s a lot to ask, but they both need someone like this. 

They don’t just dive into it immediately, no they’ve had enough emotions for one day. Instead they settle on Harry’s couch and watch movies off Netflix. They order a pizza for lunch and spend the rest of the afternoon just hanging out like Louis had intended they do that morning. They get so caught up in each other and reigniting the fuse that burned brightly between the two when around each other, that they don’t notice when the rain stops.

Harry wakes up the next morning in a his usual cold bed, but the reminder of Louis’ warmth when they sat close next to each other is enough to warm him down to his toes. The fact that he has plans with Louis, to actually see him in person again and not through a phone screen, is enough to have him grinning. The morning is a sharp contrast to yesterday’s.  

Apparently Louis’ role in what has been dubbed, ‘Jurassicgate’, is more than being bombarded by tabloids wanting a quote every day. Harry learns that it’s actually more serious than that. There’s a press conference coming up. Louis said it wasn’t that big of a deal, but that’s the complete opposite to what the rest of the world seems to think. Since the lawsuit ended no one has really brought up the subject of what would happen to the actual island, so there’s going to be a whole bunch of lawyers and politicians, even some investors who want to be a part in making the decision. Somehow that responsibility has fallen onto Louis’ shoulders; he’s been made the face of the dilemma and so he has to make the announcement of what exactly is going to go down. 

“I only agreed to it because I think after this it’ll be done for good,” Louis had mentioned to him during breakfast at his place, two weeks after the rainy day. “There’s no point dragging this out, at least not any further than it’s already been.” 

Harry’s actually been quite surprised that he hasn’t been hunted down by the media to the extent Louis has, being the grandson of the man behind the entire scandal. It might have to do with the statement his grandfather had put out early when the trial had first begun, when he asked ‘for privacy concerning him and his family members during this time.’ Harry’s not exactly complaining.

It’s in two days, and after that he and Louis and hopefully the rest of the world can continue to put this event behind them. For good. After that is what has been pegging Harry’s thoughts as of late. He doesn’t know what to make of the fact that he and Louis are still friends, not when Harry wants more than that. He can’t tell if Louis is just scared or simply not into him like that. Sure, he’s got a bunch of insecurities about his injuries, but Harry never took Louis to be someone who let stuff like that effect his thoughts on someone. He knows what he felt in the park, he knows that to be a fact. It could have been the adrenaline speaking, but the way their chemistry has somehow intensified over the past weeks proves that it wasn’t just that. He wants more. 

The plan comes to him when he’s in the middle of shampooing his hair. It starts as a simple seed of asking Louis out, until it grows and grows into a whole tree with hundreds of branches going off in all directions. It’s simple but it’s going to require help. The second he’s out of the shower he wraps a towel around his waist, stumbling into his room he reaches for his phone lying on his bed. He scrolls down until he finds who he’s looking for. Two taps later, and then he’s listening to the phone ring twice before the irishman is answering.

“Harry, mate! What’s going on?”

“Niall, I have a plan.” 

 

Harry adjusts the shades that sit on his nose. The sky has been abnormally clear today, Harry takes it as a good omen. Hopefully the stars have aligned somewhere on the other side of the world where it’s night. Harry needs for this to go off without a hitch. 

Getting a pass for the press conference wasn’t that hard, considering he was one of the more familiar faces of JurassicGate. He considered calling for Albert, his old driver, since the event was in central London and would be quite a trip if he decided to take a train, but it felt too weird. The luxury of having his own driver had worn off after not finding it necessary for so long. All those simple things, accessories to his everyday life, made him realize how trapped he had been before. He would never know what it’s like to walk the four blocks from his flat to the lab in the rain. So for the event he carpooled with Niall instead, the man lived about twenty minutes away and had offered during their phone call anyway. It’s not the first time he’s seeing Niall after the incident, they had surprisingly still been on good terms. Niall had called him up about a week after the trial inviting him to lunch, they spent a good two hours at the pub Niall chose talking. Now they’ve attended a few football matches, because Niall loves the sport almost as much as Louis does, and he’s been over Harry flat a couple of times to watch medical dramas over take out. They’re friends. Closer than they had been before, at least. 

The press conference is being held at a hotel, the conference room inside has allegedly been named the largest in all of London. At least that’s what Harry heard a news reporter say into her microphone. He had debated going to the backroom and try and find Louis, but surprise was an element Harry deemed necessary for his plan to woo Louis to work tonight. Something underneath his skin still buzzes with the knowledge that Louis is in the same room.  

Harry finds his seat, which to his dismay is near the front. He turns to face Niall, “this isn’t going to work.” 

Niall shrugs at him, visibly amused. Harry draws his hand through his hair and turn slightly to look for someone working the conference. He spots a girl, around his age, with an official looking crest on her dark blazer. He walks over. 

“Hi,” he makes his presence known and she lifts her gaze from the clipboard she had been furiously writing on. 

Her eyes widen slightly. Right, Harry had almost forgotten that his face was plastered all over news shows for the better part of the year. He might be able to work this to his advantage. 

“Is there any way I could change my seat?” He flashes her a dimpled grin. 

Ten minutes later he’s settling into his new assigned seat, row 12 seat 8. The conference room is truly the largest he’s ever been in, not that he’s been in many during his lifetime but still. In fact, it’s so expansive that there’s panels on either side of the table so even the patrons furthest from the stage will be able to see. Louis had told him he was a bit nervous in front of big crowds, and Harry would love nothing more than to go backstage and comfort him until he never doubts himself for even a second ever again. 

Minutes pass and the gaps throughout the audience are slowly filled in. Harry debates putting on his shades again as a precaution, but decides against it lest he look obnoxious. He just wants to be ready. He’s seated in between two important looking people, everyone in the room looked very important, if he’s being honest. Hopefully he can somewhat blend in. His phone buzzes in his palm, it’s a text from Louis. Harry gulps, immediately assuming Louis has found out that he’s there. His head whips up to the stage, in case Louis is watching his from behind the curtain, but when he looks up he’s blocked by the people lingering about and not sitting. In a room this vast and packed with people there’s no way Louis would be able to spot him in the middle of it all. He takes a deep breath and checks to see what Louis wrote him.  

_ What are you doing tomorrow night? _

Harry’s shoulders tense, his mind jumping to all sorts of conclusions. He blinks at his phone a couple of times, rereading the words over and over. He is not going to let Louis steal this moment from him, if he’s right about what he thinks Louis is trying to get to. He’s in too deep, he got Niall involved, there is no way he’s just letting this moment slip out of his fingers. He is going to ignore the text, maybe even pretend it never even happened. Fortunately Harry doesn’t have time to rethink his decision because a woman is walking up to the stage, her hands folded neatly in front of her. She’s the definition of posh yet her stance manages to quiet down the entire room. 

“Good morning, if you would all find your seats we are about to begin in just a few short minutes.” The room begins to clamor with the sound of scooting chairs and murmured conversations, the woman waits for the room to quiet down again before she speaks. “Thank you. Now I would like to introduce to the stage a man I’m sure you are all familiar with. A witness and a victim to the event that took place at Jurassic Park, Dr. Louis Tomlinson.”

The room is tense, and for the most part silent. Harry feels almost unsettled. Some people actually clap when Louis rounds the corner and steps out on the stage, his face is visibly relaxed and he walks over to the table that’s been set up for him. The few that clapped seem to catch on that being part of a near death experience involving dinosaurs isn’t exactly something to applaud. The noise dies out with a few awkwardly timed coughs. The corners of Harry’s mouth turn down as he cringes horribly inside. 

Louis, like the amazing person he is, takes it all in stride. He smiles and nods at a few people in the first rows, before clearing his throat and talking into the microphone. “Hello, everyone. I’m Dr. Tomlinson, and I’ll be here to answer all your questions. I just want to say a thanks for coming and hopefully we’ll be out of here quick and your reports can be up by this afternoon.” 

He receives a collective laugh at that, succeeding in easing the tension. Louis grins with a smile that looks so practiced, Harry almost doesn’t recognize him. He’s never actually given much thought to how Louis acts when he’s on the job, in his defense he’s never witnessed Louis like this either. It feels to him like Louis is performing, playing a part. It hits him then that the general public has never heard Louis’ real thoughts on the park, he was swept into it before he even really got a chance to speak out about it. They all simply see him as a victim, and it’s a story that works and simplifies things. Harry’s heard Louis talk about a pr team and imaging and how he has a role in the whirlwind of media surrounding Jurassic Park, and also how little he enjoys any of it. 

“So, I’m going to read out this statement and then I’ll answer as many questions to the best of my ability. There are also going to be some others joining me here later on and you’ll be able to direct questions to them as well, and you all probably know this already.” 

His nerves are visible to Harry from where he’s sitting in the middle of the sea of people. This is the moment loads of people from what seems to be all corners of the Earth have been waiting for, the verdict against Edward Twist was one thing but this seems to be somehow bigger. This statement issued by the United Nations, along with British and Costa Rican governments will one day become a line in history books. The entire conference room goes silent, a feather could softly fall to the floor and the slight impact would be heard all around. Louis looks down at his notes on the table in front of him, his chest expanding with the breath he takes. Louis reads out the statement.

Harry, thirty minutes later, has somehow found himself listening to Louis answer some of the most irrelevant questions. It seems the reporters in the first few rows are more interested in knowing about Louis’ personal life and how he’s dealing with the tragedy than they are on the verdict that was just read to them. Louis seems to find these questions just as annoying, he looks confused every time someone asks him to name his favorite dinosaur or prehistoric plant. He also looks almost relieved, and like he wants to laugh after every answer. Harry has to bite his lip from smiling, because Louis isn’t taking the press conference seriously at all which is probably the opposite of what the people behind it would want. 

“How are you moving on from this event, Doctor? Have you put faith in your family, sought out therapy, or been supported by a partner….?” 

Louis’ face falls at that, he stares at the reporter for a second before his shoulders are shaking and he’s throwing his head back in a laugh. “I’m sorry, I just,” he brings a hand up to conceal his giggling. 

Harry finds himself chuckling lightly at the situation. 

“Um, I don’t see how this has anything to do with the statement, but actually I-” 

He doesn’t get to finish because the woman who had introduced him walks up the side stairs. “Actually, I think Mr. Tomlinson has answered enough of our questions. We’re going to take a quick a break and then Mr and Mrs. Fernando will join us.”

Harry doesn’t recognize the names, just shrugs it off and assumes they’re somehow involved in the case. Instead he feels dread seep through him, because he was so focussed on Louis that he completely missed his chance to execute his plan. He whips his head around searching for Niall and some guidance. He finds the blonde man already staring at him with wide eyes that Harry can only translate into  _ it’s now or never. _

Right. Harry can do this, he can do this-

“I have a question!” Harry doesn’t register he’s out of his seat until he’s got all three hundred something pairs of eyes on him. 

“Mr. Styles?” The woman speaks into the microphone, she turns to look at the side of stage. There are a few gaps and whispers around him, but he doesn’t give them much attention.

“Yeah, hi.” He coughs awkwardly in his fist, watching another woman with a headset walking towards him briskly with an extra mic in hand. 

“Harry?” Louis looks surprised, but for the most part he looks relieved. His face is visibly less tense than it was during all those invasive and redundant questions. 

“Louis,” he starts. He doesn’t really know where to go from there. The running woman reaches him then, slightly out of breath and extending the mic to him. Honestly, if he were anybody else and looking in on the situation he’d be laughing by now. It’s so ridiculous, this plan he’s conjured up. He vaguely wonders if a phone call or facetime would be as effective. It wouldn’t be. 

“Louis Tomlinson.” Harry’s mouth goes dry as the hundred pairs of eyes focus on him, “I have a couple questions for you.” 

Louis grins at him, terribly confused and endeared at the same time. It settles Harry’s nerves and he lets out a small laugh into the microphone, hardly believing he’ actually going through with this. 

“My first question is: Do you think there’s any hope for relocating the animals that are out of their containment on the island?”

Louis looks pensive, jaw slack while he thinks over the question, going along with Harry’s little charade. “In my professional opinion, I think it will be a long time before anyone is trained enough to tackle the animals on Isla Nublar. But I don’t think it’s impossible. Suicide mission? That’s another answer I could give you.” He nods, still looking at him with unsure eyes.

Harry breathes out slowly, tilting away from the mic so it doesn’t pick up the sound. “As for my second question,” it was now or never. “I was wondering if you would like to go out to dinner with me sometime?”

The room falls into a terrifying silence, and if it wasn’t for the adrenaline pumping through Harry’s veins and making him giddy as fuck he would be horrified. It lasts for ten second before there’s murmuring and Harry even catches a wolf whistle from the other side of the room. Louis is looking at him with the brightest eyes and Harry can actually feel himself melt a little. 

“Um..” Louis leads off with a soft laugh, obviously flustered. 

“Well?” The woman standing on stage next to him presses. It coerces a laugh from the audience, Harry included. 

Louis shakes his head in disbelief, grin still intact, before he answers staring straight at Harry. “Yes, of course.” 

There’s a spattering of applause, Harry has no idea why. Although, he guesses not being declined a date with Louis Tomlinson is something to cheer about. 

The next ten minutes are a whirlwind in Harry’s mind. After his big gesture, Louis makes his way backstage and a very pristine looking couple take his place. Harry stays seated until Louis texts him to meet him in the lobby in five. He tries to leave the conference room without catching too much attention, he only fails slightly. 

The lobby is empty with only a guard standing at the door, there isn’t even a receptionist behind the front desk, and most importantly there seems to be no Louis in sight. Harry decides to go sit in the arrangement of sofas and armchairs set up to his left instead of panicking. He begins to make his way towards it when he’s stopped by the fast tapping of shoes on the linoleum heading up behind him. 

“Harry wait!” Louis is saying as he basically crashes into Harry’s back. He almost topples them both down with the force of it, but Harry is quick to steady them, surprising himself with his faster than usual reflexes. 

“Sorry, sorry,” Louis is saying as he backs away and moves to stand in front of Harry.

“Hey,” is the only word that Harry can get out of his mouth as he watches the man before him. The last ten minutes in the conference room come flooding back to him and Harry wills his cheeks not to burn up in a flaring blush. “I thought you got held up in there, I was just going to wait one one of those couches.”

“Oh. I thought you were leaving,” Louis shakes his head as if to clear his thoughts, “your grand gesture must have put me off balance more so than I thought.” 

Harry has no more control over the heat rising down his neck, his ears burning the hottest and most uncomfortable. “Sorry about that.”

“Don’t be. No one’s ever done anything like that for me.”

Harry looks down, suddenly bashful and not entirely believing that he actually went through with it. “Well, I’m glad I go to be the first. And also that you said yes.”

When he looks back up Louis is looking at him with a soft expression, affection and pure giddiness surge up in his chest. Louis always makes him feel like this. What they had started in a cave on an island in Central America has finally started to gain momentum once more and Harry can’t wait. 

One month later, it’s mid July and the weather in London has been anything but forgiving. The air is so dry and the sun beats down drenching everything in a scorching glaze. It’s been putting Harry in an almost uncomfortable position these days, because he can’t exactly go out in his long sleeves anymore if he doesn’t want to pass out from heat stroke. He desperately wants to gain his self confidence back but things don’t seem to be looking up for him this summer, at least not in that area. Everything else in Harry’s life is beyond ok. After their first date back at the end of May, he and Louis have fallen into their relationship bliss and Harry couldn’t be any happier. They saw each other practically every day, with Harry’s internship over and Louis taking a break from the public eye. Their time together is spent on day trips to the beach or anywhere that seemed even slightly cooler than the center of the city. 

“Morning, love.” Louis wraps his arms around Harry’s middle from behind. 

Harry leans back into him, he hums both in response and appreciatively as he chews on his eggs on toast. He gestures at the other plate next to his as he swallows. 

“I made breakfast,” he answers after chasing down the food with a sip of tea. Louis moans in response, detaching himself from Harry’s back, it only makes him frown a little. 

Despite what it might look like, Louis doesn’t spend every night at Harry’s flat, or vice versa. He’s probably slept over a handful of times. It’s only been a month after all, and they’re taking it slow. Slow is probably overkill, because the pace Harry needs is actually slower than- slow. It’s not just his arm, it’s more than that, he’s not actually been in a relationship since his last year of uni. A good four years ago. Yet, being with Louis isn’t anything other than easy, so Harry can’t say he has many insecurities when it comes to their budding relationship. 

After they eat and change into actual clothes, Louis borrowing a shirt from Harry, they head out. It makes something warm bloom in Harry’s stomach seeing Louis drowning in his shirt and he can’t be blamed too harshly for resembling a koala after that, clinging to Louis’ arm as they make their way down to his car parked in the basement level garage of his building.   

They drive out of the city, a small cooler bag sits between Harry’s legs holding a few water bottles and an assortment of fruit in case they get hungry during the drive. Harry’s phone is plugged into the aux and Louis tries to talk over the music, complaining that he doesn’t know any of the words and to put something less obscure on. Harry sighs, feigning exasperation, but changes it to a band he knows Louis likes too. They end up talking over the music either way, never falling into any sort of silence as they’re so enraptured with each other they just have to know everything that could be on the other’s mind. 

Louis pulls them off the highway and turns into what looks like a small suburban town. It reminds Harry of the place he grew up in, with rolling green hills in the distance and small family owned shops lining the roads. They drive down the main road and Harry starts to feel a little nervous at that point. It’s irrational, he knows, but he can’t help it. No amount of calming thoughts and deep breaths could put a stop to the flurry of self-conscious thoughts taking over his awareness. It’s not like he hasn’t met Jesy before, he has, just not in person. He’s sat in on the facetime they had last week, when Jesy had invited them, and she seems so nice and someone he’s happy Louis has in his life. But, the prospect of being in front of not just her but everyone else who will be there today is a little overwhelming. He glances to the back seat to the sight of his favorite navy hoodie laying next to the large box wrapped in glittering yellow paper with an enormous lilac bow glued to the top. He sighs a bit in comfort, turning back in time to see Louis make a left turn into a quaint neighborhood. Similar houses line both sides of the road and Harry easily spots Jesy’s house by the large banner they tied to a tree in their front lawn.

_ Emelie’s Princess Ball,  _ is written in a cursive font, a picture of dancing princess line the bottom of it and three balloons are tied to the ground on either side of the banner. It’s cute.

Louis turns the key and pulls it out, then he frees himself from his seat belt. Harry does the same with a clammy hand, trying to slow down his mind while Louis opens the backdoor to retrieve the present. It’s a five year old’s birthday party. How bad could this go? 

They walk up the driveway, passing a bed of wildflowers along the brick path to the door. Louis’ hand in his is a warm blanket of comfort, Harry breathes out. 

An elderly woman, who Harry assumes is Jesy’s mother opens the door. 

“Louis!” She exclaims, a pleasant look gracing her features. “I’m so glad you could make it, love!”

She pushes the door open more and then envelopes Louis in a very grandmotherly hug. Harry smiles warmly at the pair. 

“Of course I could, Janice, I wouldn’t miss out on Em’s birthday.” 

Louis then turns to Harry, opening his mouth surly to introduce him. Harry, feeling more comfortable now that he’s seen how harmless and nice the woman seems, beats him to it. 

“I’m Harry,” He tries for an easygoing smile, arm outstretched. She takes it, eyes warm in his direction. 

“Louis, Jesy didn’t tell me you were dating a model,” she turned to Louis with a raised eyebrow. Harry flushes, he’s had his fair share of being hit on my elderly women.

Louis breathes out a laugh, “that’s because he isn’t one. But with those legs I guess I can see where you’re coming from.”

He leans in towards Janice, a hand up to his face as if he doesn’t think Harry can hear. It makes Harry laugh, maybe a little too loudly due to his nerves. But he feels some of the tension dissipate at the grin Louis shoots him. 

“Well, it’s lovely to meet you Harry,” she squeezes Harry’s hand still in her grip, “now come in the two of you.” 

Inside is more or less exactly what Harry had been expecting. There’s a spattering of adults, some look familiar, and double the amount of little kids roaming around the inside and backyard. A small bounce house shaped like a barn is blown up outside, it only puts Harry off slightly, he’s pretty sure barns aren’t found at princess ball. To each their own, Harry’s not going to Jesy’s or a five year old’s party organizing decisions. 

They make it past the foyer and into the living room, when most party guests are milling about, when a high pitched screech stopping them in their tracks. Next thing he knows there’s a lilac blur running past his legs and colliding with Louis’ to his right. 

“Uncle Tommo!” The little girl screams into Louis’ knees. It’s mesmerising the way Louis’ entire face lights up and he’s hoisting the girl into his arms with a laugh. 

“Emelie Nelson, is that you?” Louis leans in and squints at her, it makes her giggle adorably and throw her arms around Louis’ neck. 

“Of course it’s me, Tommo! Who else would it be?” Her eyes are bright and focused solely on Louis, Harry can relate. 

“How have you been, my lovely emerald?” 

Harry sort of tunes the rest out, his brain seems stuck on the image of Louis holding a child. His face is so relaxed and he looks almost younger, more free. Harry has many favorite Louis’s but this one right here is definitely up for the running. 

When Louis said he and his dig team were like a family he wasn’t joking. They’re all here, every single one of them. Harry tries his hardest to see that as a good thing, he does. Harry follows Louis around the room, trying not to look too much like a lost puppy, being introduced. They’re all very kind people from what Harry is witnessing, and seem to care about Louis a lot, at least they have the one thing in common. It gets easier after that. 

At the end of the round they reach none other than Liam. Harry almost sighs in relief at the familiar face. He’s seen quite a bit of Liam over the past few weeks, usually on the weekends when he goes to Louis’ flat to find him and Liam playing fifa or watching a movie together. Most times the three of them would decide to make it a guys night and invite Niall. It usually ends with them slightly tipsy or passed out in Louis and Liam’s shared living room. Lately though, Liam’s been skipping out on their lads night, he and Louis have a suspicion Liam’s been secretly seeing someone. They’ll have to stage an intervention if Liam doesn’t come clean soon. 

All of Harry’s worries about anyone mentioning his arm disappear into thin air as the day goes on, nobody even looks at him weirdly the whole time. Not even any of Emelie’s many friends. Harry relishes in the fact that he can blend so seamlessly into the group of people. Coming from his background Harry never really felt like he had any real friends, at least none that weren’t after his money or status. It’s a nice change to be around people so genuine and here for the same reason, to celebrate the birthday of a little girl who is as friendly and pleasant as the people around her. All in all, Harry would call the day a success. 

He feels so accepted and like he can be himself again, it’s the closest to how he felt before anything, the park, physical therapy, Louis. It’s close yeah, but in the way that it’s somehow better now, brighter. 

 

Today is the day. He’s getting a new hand. 

It’s been marked on his calendar for over two weeks now. August 18th. Sitting in the same chair, in the same office he’s been in for the better part of the year, Harry is feeling a lot of things but fear is not one them. The case in which his prosthetic had come in is lying on the table in front of him, ready for him to open what might be the last piece Harry seems to be missing. 

It’s been months living like this, unwhole. He can remember the early days, where his phantom limb pain was so bad it would keep him awake, or when he’d break down crying at the simplest of task he wasn’t able to complete. Harry’s come such a long way from that. The next step in his recovery is to keep moving on and that’s exactly what is about to happen. 

The hand itself isn’t like most prosthetics. Harry made the decision early on that he wanted to regain movement in his right hand, and to achieve that some of the most advance medical prosthetics were put on his list of options. Harry spent the whole summer going over his list, researching the creators and making all sorts of pros and cons lists. When he and his prosthetist, Dr. Yang, agreed upon one he was given his date and spent the following two weeks daydreaming about what it would be like when the day finally came. And now it’s here and Harry is buzzing out of his skin with excitement. 

Technically he has already started the procedure of getting his new hand, at the beginning of his two week wait electrodes were implanted into his forearm during a minor surgery, recovery for that had only been three days. Sometimes Harry has to remind himself he’s working with really advanced medical technology and that the process has to be slow, lest something go wrong and he never get a hand at all. This hand has only been attached to thirteen people in the world, the first ten were trial patients, and all hands had been fully functioning. Harry was about to become the fourteenth. 

“Alright, Harry do you have any last questions?” Dr. Yang asks once she finishes explaining how she’s going to place the hand and what will happen after she does. Harry shakes his head no, eager to get started. 

“Then let’s start,” says opening the case and pulling out his new hand. 

Harry’s eyes widen slightly. He turns to his left to gauge Louis’ reaction but he’s looking at Harry instead. ‘ _ You ok?’  _ he mouths. Harry nods leaning forward to trap Louis’ lips in a chaste kiss to reassure not only Louis but himself too. It works. 

He then turns to his mum and sister on the other side and smiles at them. “Thank you both for being here with me.”

“Of course, love.” Anne squeezes his right arm. 

“Yeah, H, we wouldn't miss you getting your bionic arm for the world.” Gemma is smiling as she says it though, and he knows she’s not being entirely sarcastic. 

Harry inhales deeply and then exhales, the last of his worries simmering down enough for him to look up at Dr. Yang and nod.

“I’m ready.” 

The material is cold against his skin. It’s not quite metal but it’s also not plastic. Dr. Yang had said the name of it before but Harry was paying more attention to how the hand looked placed on his arm. It’s a grey color, sleek, and it fits perfectly. 

It’s different, the sensation he’s getting, almost similar to his phantom limb pain minus the pain. He can see the hand there and his brain is  _ telling _ him a hand is there, the nerves at the end of his arm tingle as they seem to connect with the prosthetic. Harry doesn't fully understand how it works yet, but it isn't exactly something that plagues him at the moment. 

“We’ve already activated the electrodes during our last meeting, so we’ll give it a few minutes and then I'm going to ask you to move the hand, okay?” Dr. Yang speaks calmly like she doesn't want to startle him. Harry shakes himself out of his trance and looks up at her, nodding.

“Ok, yeah.” 

Louis’ hand falls to his knee under the table, he turns to him with a grin.

“How does it feel?” 

“Tingley, like the end of my arm’s fallen asleep or something.” 

Louis looks at up the doctor question on the tip of his tongue. 

“Yes, Mr. Tomlinson it is supposed to feel like that. That’s just the electrodes connecting with the hand. Any second now and the numbness will start to fade.”

As if on demand the pins and needles feeling in Harry’s left arm start to fade until it’s back to normal. “It’s stopped tingling.” 

“That’s great, whenever you're ready Harry we’ll start.” 

A flash of panic surges over Harry and it must show on his face because Gemma speaks up. “Breathe, H.” 

Harry does just that trying to steady the beating of his heart. His mum rubs soothing circles on his back. He’s surrounded by the people he loves most and he’s about to regain the last piece of his life back, it leaves Harry overwhelmed in the best way possible. 

“I’m good, I’m good. We can start.” 

“To begin, Iet’s move your arm so the hand is lying faceup,” Harry does so gently. “Now, I'm going to ask you to move your index finger up if you can.”

Harry tries not to concentrate on the single movement too hard, remembering his earlier meetings where his doctor had told him his movements should be natural, the energy used on moving a singular muscle should be fleeting as usual. 

It happens. His brand new right index finger twitches upwards. The movement elicits a gasp that turns into a laugh from him, he’s can’t believe that just happened. 

“I-” The corners of his eyes prickles. He hadn't planned on crying. 

“Good! That’s so good, Harry.” Dr. Yang says scribbling down on the sheet in front of her. “Let’s try to curl all four fingers into a fist now.”

Harry nods, his eyes wide. The rest of his body feels oddly paralyzed like the only thing movable is his right hand. He follows Dr. Yang’s orders. 

It happens again. This time the rest of the table breaks out into gasps, and Harry’s having trouble breathing with the emotion lodged deep in his chest cavity. He can’t tell if he’s on the verge of laughing or crying. 

The rest of the meeting is smooth sailing from there. His cheeks ache by the end of it. 

Harry doesn’t get back to his flat until after the sun’s long gone down. He closes the door behind him and Louis. It seems a grin has been permanently etched onto his face. Harry worries it won't ever be coming off, not that it's exactly a bad thing. 

They make their way into the kitchen and Louis makes a beeline toward the kettle, pulling out two mugs after he’s turned the stove on. He fits here, Harry thinks. Among all of Harry’s things, in his flat, with Harry. He fits here so easily, Harry wants him here all the time. It can’t even just be the place Harry just wants to be with Louis all the time no matter where they are. If the day's events have proved anything to him it’s that he and Louis works anywhere and under any circumstances. 

He’s been so giddy all day and all through the celebratory dinner they’d shared with his mum and Gemma. And now that they’re finally back in a calm setting Harry can feel exactly how fast his mind’s been whirring. If he doesn’t slow it down he might actually run straight out of his skin. Which. 

It’s kind of a gross image if he thinks about it. He huffs out a laugh. 

Louis turns to face him, “what are you chuckling about?” 

Harry bites his lip and tries to school his face into a serious expression. “Nothing.”

Louis simply raises an eyebrow.

“I just can’t believe today happened is all. I got a  _ hand, _ ” he holds up his right arm for emphasis, wiggling his fingers in Louis’ direction. 

“Yes, you did.” Louis amusedly watches him. 

“I’m happy,” he continues, walking to Louis until their toes are touching. “And hyper. And I just want to do so many things right now, because now I  _ can.”  _

He swallows around the lump in his throat and blinking, laughing a little because it feels like he’s been doing this all day laughing and then crying and then laughing again. “Thank you.”

The corners of Louis’ eyes crinkle, “for what, baby?”

God. “For. For everything. You’ve been so good to me this whole time, and I know I wasn't the easiest to deal with.”

Louis pulls him closer, hands wrapping around his middle. “Being with you isn't that hard of a task, Harry. Infact, I love it. I love being with you.” 

Harry bites the inside of cheek to keep from smiling to hard, he knows it makes him look like a frog but.  _ Love.  _ That’s the first time either of them said the word in relation to the other. Harry knows Louis didn't technically say he's  _ in love _ with Harry, but it feels like something they could reach. Harry feels like he almost there already. 

“I love being with you too.” He says it softly before he’s leaning down and pressing his lips to Louis’.

The kiss is slow at first, lips dragging softly against each other. Soft and sweet. Harry plants both hands on Louis’ chest, he moves his real one up until his fingers are tangled in the soft hairs at the back of his neck. Louis is so warm in his arms. 

They pull back just as slow with a too loud pop in the quiet kitchen. Louis moves to line kisses up Harry’s jaw, varying from feather light touches to wet drags of his mouth across his skin. He doesn't stop until he reaches just before Harry’s ear, “I’m happy you’re happy, baby.” 

Harry shudders, smiling softly and leaning back so he can reattach their lips in thanks. He doesn't really notice the shift but the second kiss that started much like the first speeds up slightly. Harry finds himself pressing to get closer, pushing slightly at Louis’ mouth with his own. He wants Louis closer.

Hands tighten around Harry’s waist pulling him in that much closer until his chest is flush against Louis. Both hearts beating in sync. Harry feels his eyebrows furrow, the kiss feels different now, intense, overwhelming. He moans softly, almost inaudibly, but he guess Louis hears it if the way he pulls Harry tighter against him so he’s standing between his spread legs is anything to go by. Harry’s lips part in a gasp when Louis flicks his tongue, wet and scorching, against them. There’s nothing stopping it now, the momentum only gets faster, fueled by the glide of their mouths. 

Harry could see himself being lost in this kiss for hours. Lips never parting for more than a second and heat everblooming. But.

Harry isn't. Not yet. He's not ready for this to go any further tonight. 

So he slows it down, lowers his hands until they're back on Louis’ chest. He can feel Louis’ heart beneath his left hand, beating wildly. It's exactly how Harry feels. 

Louis understands what he’s doing, just like he always does, and slows down their pace without loosening his grip on Harry's waist. The kisses begin to resemble soft whispers again until Harry finally manages to pull back. Only to lean in again at the sight of Louis’ reddened lips, and again, and again, and once more just because he can. The last one is more just them smiling into each other's mouths than a kiss.

When he opens his eyes it’s to Louis clear blue ones staring back at him, bright as ever. Harry feels whole. 

“We should dance.” 

Harry blinks and Louis continues.

“We should dance, you said you were hyper and there’s no way you'll fall asleep with this much pent up energy.”

Nodding Harry pushes away and starts toward the living room, “I’ll turn the music on.”

“I’ll open the wine.” 

Harry scoffs, “I don't need to be drunk to throw crazy shapes, Louis.” 

His too wide grin gives him away, and Louis’ leaning in for one more peck before he’s reaching towards the wine cabinet. “Of course you don't, love.”

Later that night, nearly spilling into morning, Harry find himself in hysterics with his limbs flailing all over the place. Conscious of his new addition, of course. Harry dances like the last year wasn't filled with stress and depression, he dances because it was the year he met a man he loves who could love him back. He dances with said man, barefoot and free. He laughs and only cries because he’s laughing too hard and only stops because he’s pushing Louis against a wall and is too busy kissing him. 

He feels light and in love, and finally in control of his life. The hardest parts are over and the only direction he can think of heading is forward. 

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that's a wrap.
> 
> sorry for that long wait. so yeah harry has no arm and louis loves him very much. the end. thanks to everyone who showed support by leaving kudos, comments, and asks on the tumblr. especially those who asked when we were posting this last chapter. a year and a half later would have been a good response. 
> 
> hayley says: rip sorry we got into kpop.
> 
> tumblrs: @parkjiminsito @jjcomeback


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